Pull of the Tide
by Silver Inklett
Summary: Three years ago, Ariel took her first steps on land. Now, she's ready to try again, and this time, she's got a scruffy first mate waiting to help pull her up out of the waves. [Post-Canon au of the Little Mermaid, ft. Jim Hawkins and other characters from the Disney Animated canon]
1. Chapter 1

_This fic was started two years ago, and I just the other day finished this first part. This could be a stand-alone, but I've got a multi-chapter fic planned out. Whether or not it'll actually be written remains to be seen, but in the meantime, the world needs more Jariel aus and I am more than happy to supply~_

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There was a time when Ariel would have rushed to the surface without a second thought, not caring who saw her or what they thought she was doing. She was a princess of Atlantica; if she wanted to lay out on a rock and let her skin soak in the sun instead of water, that was her choice to make. If she wanted to flit about old shipwrecks in search of treasure instead of sitting in boring royal meetings, that was her business. As the youngest princess, her presence was rarely necessary.

Now, however, Ariel couldn't risk someone following her. After the disaster that had been her short tryst on land, her father could care less as long as she came home safe, but even he wouldn't be able to ignore her trips to the surface if he knew what she was going for.

Or more specifically, _who_ she was going for.

Ariel ducked behind some coral, patting her hair to make sure it was still tied down. Her red hair was a beacon in the blue water, and she had made sure to borrow one of Aquata's blue scarves to cover it. Once she had thoroughly checked the open sea for any creatures and found none, she quickly swam on, knowing the path easily.

The tide pool she found herself in had once been a safe haven for the merfolk above the waves; a place to play and listen to music and be together. It had been abandoned for years now, and served Ariel's purposes wonderfully. She made sure to stop and press a kiss to the golden shell embedded in the rock; a memorial to her dear, departed mother. She then jumped the rock wall easily, fluttering about in the shallow water. She made her way over to the rock that sat in the middle of the large tide pool, pulling the scarf from her head and letting her red hair fall in damp waves around her shoulders. Tucking the borrowed scarf into her bag, she withdrew her hand and brought with it a familiar, golden shell on a braided cord. She clasped it around her neck, the cool shell quickly warming up against her skin, and laid down to begin her waiting.

As she reclined, back pressed against the sun-warmed rock, she thought further about what the discovery of her secret rendezvous could mean. Her reputation would never survive the scandal, but her reputation had never been very good in the first place. She was still the kingdom weirdo, though now, as the palace expert on human history and artifacts, she was a _professional_ weirdo. At least she hadn't had to worry about how her interests would scare off any potential suitors, seeing as she had done a good enough job of that herself.

Her taste in men was notably _dry_ , something the palace merfolk still whispered about when they thought she couldn't hear. Whatever she might have had with Eric had never come to fruition after Ursula had been killed, but she secretly was thankful she hadn't had to return to land with the prince. Even if she had had her voice, the conversation would have lulled. Eric was sweet and kind, and she would always hold a soft spot for the first human she had ever interacted with, but now that her infatuation had passed, she knew it had been her desire to be on dry land that had driven her into Ursula's lair, not desire for the prince.

Eric was what she thought she had wanted as a child, but as a woman she understood the difference between loving someone and loving the _idea_ of them.

Ariel sighed, pushing her damp hair out of her face. Her stomach always twisted oddly when she thought of her time on land with Eric; part embarrassment, part shame, and part desperate longing. She still dreamed of the feeling of sand between her toes, the burning of muscles in her legs as she danced through the kingdom's square.

Now her dreams also included the snapping of white sails and the burning of warm wood against her bare feet. She had developed quite the fascination with ships and sailing over the past several years, and there was one particular reason why.

A loud splash made the young princess jump, scrambling away from the sound instinctively. The rough coughs that followed, however, made Ariel relax, her lips pulling up into a bright smile.

"The water's _freezing!"_ Jim grumbled, shaking the water from his hands before pushing his bangs out of his face. Ariel laughed and leaned forward, resting the weight of her torso on her tail.

"No, you're just a whimp," she teased. The sailor frowned at her before his lips tugged up into a smile. He looked ridiculous wading through the water to get to her, but it was worth it to feel his warm hands on her hips. His breath brushed against her lips and her smile grew wider in response.

"You're here," he breathed, his thumbs stroking her soft skin. Her own hands fisted into the material of his shirt, tugging him closer.

"I wouldn't miss this for anything in the whole ocean," she assured him, and his relieved smile pressed against her own in a passionate kiss that sent her heart racing against her breast.

She had first met Jim while spying on a human ship. Once she had gotten over the fear of the surface her tangle with Ursula had driven into her soul, she had taken to climbing onto the sides of passing ships; spying on the crew until the ship reached the edge of her father's kingdom, and then taking the time on her long swim home to organize and catalogue all the new information she had learned. Her secret grotto had turned into a museum of sorts as well as her own study, full of maps and logbooks of her own. She had a fairly good record of the trade routes of several ships, including the _Legacy_.

One of the only ships with a female captain that Ariel had found, the crew fascinated her, and Ariel had made an effort to ride with them every time they came into port. One of the most interesting crew members had been the first mate, a young man only a few years older than herself with eyes like the stormy sea.

Ariel had been careful to not let her interest turn into infatuation, but that had quickly become moot when he had discovered her one night, too interested in the crew's scientist to notice him coming to the edge of the ship.

That first interaction hadn't gone… _well_ , to put it simply. Ariel had nearly given up on the whole venture until another chance encounter had allowed them to have a proper conversation, and Ariel found herself watching for the Legacy's passing more eagerly than before.

"How long are you in port for?" she asked once they had to pull away for breath, running her fingers through the soft down of his normally closely-shaved hair, which had begun to grow out during his time at sea. Jim leaned into her touch with a soft breath.

"Two months." Ariel smiled brightly at the news. "Amelia and Delbert are going to spend the rest of the summer with their kids before they send them back off to boarding school, and then we'll be back out to sea."

"And you'll be staying with your mother at her inn?" she asked eagerly. Jim smirked, and her heart stuttered in her chest.

"Woah there, you could give a guy the wrong kind of impression with that reaction," he teased. "I might start to think you like me or something."

"Oh, Jim," the mermaid purred, gently tugging the sailor closer. Jim swallowed thickly, his adam's apple bobbing as her lips brushed against his jaw. "Surely you already know how much I like…" She drew the last word out, scraping her nails down the wet material of his shirt towards his stomach. Once he was properly breathless, his eyes dark with want for her, she mirrored his smirk. "Talking to you about human stuff," she finished with a teasing kiss to his nose, giggling as he blinked owlishly. She pulled away, diving into the water and resurfacing just behind him.

The sailor spun around with a frown, glaring at the laughing mermaid before splashing towards her. Ariel shrieked with mirth, swimming away towards the opposite side of the pool. The rock face pressed against her back as she held herself out of the water, still giggling breathlessly as he struggled to get to her. He wasn't nearly as graceful in the water as she, despite spending most of his adult life on the seas, but he got to her eventually. His warm hands pressed against her stomach, pushing her into the rocks; careful not to hurt her, but firm enough to keep her from moving. His own chest quickly pressed against hers once he found his footing, and Ariel inhaled sharply at the close contact.

"You little minx," Jim growled, smirking at the captive mermaid. Ariel simply smiled innocently in response, her hands resting on his broad shoulders. Jim was just as muscular and trim as Eric was, if only a bit shorter. Where it was genetics that made the prince's skin so tan, Jim's tan was more of a faded sunburn from weeks under the hot sun, and his hands were rough from working on his ship for months at a time. Jim was like the wilds of the surface world, wrangling the sea under his control while still allowing her her freedom, wary of courting her scorn.

He treated Ariel with the same respect, holding her wild heart in his scarred palm tight enough that she wouldn't slip through his fingers, but loose enough that he wouldn't bruise her.

Their kiss this time was slow, building in heat as she relaxed against his body. It had been nearly three months since the last time he had come into port, and she had missed him fiercely. She could hear the roaring of the sea start to quiet as all her attention was shifted to the man holding her so tightly, bracing her body against his own.

"I don't know if I'm ready for two whole months of Jim Hawkins," Ariel teased as he abandoned her lips to instead trail kisses down the column of her neck. She gasped in delight, her tail flicking against his calves.

"I'm sure I can get you to warm up to the idea," he teased right back, grinning against her throat. Ariel hummed.

"I'm eager to see you try, sailor."

His lovely mouth continued to pepper kisses all over her sea-soaked skin, the princess slowly melting into a boneless heap in the sailor's arms. Her little gasps and sighs were the only sounds between them, the crashing of the ocean's waves against the rock wall nearly drowning them out.

"I missed you," Jim confessed earnestly against her collarbone, his scarred fingers pressing into the arch of her back as his other hand cradled the back of her neck.

"I missed you too," Ariel sighed in response, pulling him away from her skin so she could meet his eye with a loving smile, her forehead resting against his own.

"I almost went mad on that ship," he said, "I kept thinking I saw you on the horizon, or along the side of the ship."

Ariel's smile widened, and she pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth in a tender kiss. "I'm here now," she reassured him. His answering smile was crooked and lovely, and his entire face lightened like the clouds had parted for a singular moment to allow the sun to shine on him. He was heart-wrenchingly beautiful, she mused breathlessly, and the best part?

He was hers.

She wanted to be his too.

They kissed for what felt like hours, slowly relearning each other until the three months they had spent apart were little more than a bad dream, and fading quicker every moment. Ariel hummed in delight when she again found the spot just under his ear that, if she moved her lips and teeth against it just right, could make Jim's knees shake and buckle.

"Alright, alright," he said with a forced laugh, his voice low and wonderfully husky, "that's enough of that."

"Am I making you uncomfortable, sailor?" Ariel cooed, tracing her fingers down his chest. Jim's hands trapped her own, and she melted again at how firmly, yet gently, he treated her.

"If you keep doing that, we're just going to kiss until the sun goes down."

"I see no problem with this."

"Well, no presents for you, then."

Ariel perked up immediately, smiling widely. "Presents?" she asked, wrapping her arms around Jim's neck so they were once again at eye level with each other. "You brought me presents!?" If she had still had legs and feet, she would have been bouncing on her toes, but she settled for wiggling in Jim's arms happily as the sailor laughed.

"No, you said you just wanted kisses," Jim said with a shake of his head, pressing his grinning mouth against her cheek and down her jaw in a flurry of quick pecks. Ariel's laughter was breathless and giddy as she tried to squirm away from his teasing affections.

"Jiiiim!"

He laughed. "Ariel?"

"Come on, I want to see what you got me!" Ariel attempted to pout at him, but her smile was too wide to hold it for long. Jim grinned, shaking his head at her and giving her a quick kiss to the forehead before sweeping one of his arms under her tail, hefting the mermaid into his arms. Ariel shrieked in surprise, clinging tightly to his neck as the laughing sailor began to wade towards the rocks where he had left his bag.

"Alright, we'll do presents," he said with a chuckle, and Ariel tucked her smiling face against his neck as he lifted her out of the water and onto the rocks (not an easy task, seeing as her tail alone had to weigh at least as much as he did). Once she was comfortably stretched out on the sun-warmed rock, tucked against his side, Jim pulled over a cloth satchel he had tucked behind some rocks to keep dry. He playfully kept it away from Ariel's grasping hands, not relenting until she had him by the shirt and was kissing the scruff on his cheek between her whines of his name.

She watched in fascination as he began to pull wonder after wonder from his satchel, placing the items on the rocks where he would be able to show them to her one by one. A few things she already knew were just for her to look at, like the leather-bound books and the iron tins full of sharply-scented spices, but there was no shortage of things for her to take back to her grotto either.

Jim pulled out another tin, but this one went straight into her hands instead of onto the rocks. "Here," he said, smiling as he passed the baffled mermaid her first gift. "Found these in a couple of the markets we stopped in. You mentioned wanting some new beads, so..."

Ariel gasped in delight, carefully prying open the lid and staring in awe at the variety of glass and metal beads in the tin; gleaming in the midday sun like a school of tropical fish. She even saw a few buttons mixed in, all different sizes and stamped with different designs.

"Jim, these are _beautiful_ ," she breathed, carefully combing the tips of her fingers through the tin, revealing new colors and shapes and styles.

Jim's smile only grew, softening his sea-worn features into an almost boyish expression of delight. Ariel's heart melted, and she pressed her nose against the hard line of his jaw. "Thank you," she whispered, not only referring to the beads. Her scruffy sailor was, undoubtedly, the best part of her life. With her sisters beginning to drift away with the currents to different corners of her father's kingdom, and the palpable stress in the palace from the upcoming transition of the crown from Triton to Attina in less than a year's time, the ocean was starting to feel as suffocating as it had when she was sixteen. Her air-starved lungs felt heavier with each breath in Atlantica, and she had begun to debate whether or not it was possible for a mermaid to drown.

Being here, with Jim, was a much-appreciated escape. From the beginning, he had never seen her cluelessness about the human world she so adored as something to be tucked away or laughed at. He was happy to teach her all he knew, and if she asked him a question he didn't know the answer to, they would look for it together. And in return, she shared with him all she could about the world under the sea. There were things she _couldn't_ tell him - secrets her father would never be able to overlook if she offered them to a human - but Jim eagerly soaked in anything she gave him. He, like her, was possessed by an unending curiosity; they both wanted to pick the world apart and put it back together, just to see how it ticked.

Eric had seen the world as an ocean; the regular coming and going of the tides, the steady currents, the ever-changing waves. It was not wholly predictable, and sometimes deadly, but Eric had what he needed to navigate his own ship safely through the waters, and with that, he was content. Jim, however, saw the world as a piece of machinery; a tangle of clockwork pieces and springs and coils just waiting for him to pick it apart. Every day was a new chance to get his hands dirty, fingertips stained with grease as he sought the answers to questions that rivaled the stars in number. His logical way of viewing the world around them fascinated Ariel, and his constant hunt for answers and adventure delighted her.

"Anything for you," Jim promised in response, kissing her temple and pushing back some of the damp curls that stuck to her skin. She sighed softly, mouth curling into a smile, and Jim kissed her quickly on the corner of her lips before turning back to his collection.

Ariel watched Jim's face as he began to sort through the things he had brought, nose scrunched in thought and the tip of his tongue peeking out between pearly teeth, and felt the hurricane in her chest quiet to a soft summer storm. Here. _Right here_. This was where Ariel knew she belonged. With her sailor beside her and the salty scent of the ocean surrounding her, slowly finding the answers to their endless questions about the world around them, together.

Ariel knew what she had to do. She wanted to sail atop the seas with him, instead of following his ship from down below. She wanted to wake up every morning in his arms and watch the sun rise over the horizon together. She wanted to meet his beloved family that he spoke so highly of; his mother and godfather and captain and his own godchildren that Ariel already loved as dearly as her own sisters.

She was going to become a part of Jim Hawkins' world, but she only had two months to do it. Ursula had left many things in her wake that lingered long after she died, and one of them had been an important lesson. You couldn't get something for nothing, and sometimes what you got wasn't what you had hoped for. Ariel's fantasy of Eric had outshone the reality, and when the sunspots had cleared from her eyes, she had a new way of looking at the future. She didn't know what life with Jim on land would be like until she had lived it, but she fully intended to find out.

And as Jim began to describe and explain each of the trinkets in turn, letting her turn them over in her salt-soaked hands and test them herself, a part of Ariel was planning, scheming, dreaming. Two months was a hell of a lot longer than three days, but it was what she _did_ with those two months that mattered.

The next two months could change- no, _would_ change everything.

When the two reluctantly parted ways as the sun began to slip below the horizon (after sneaking in a few more kisses on the way), promising to meet up in another week so as not to make his mother suspicious, Ariel cut through the water like a knife as she raced for home. If her plan worked, she'd be seeing Jim again long before the week was up, but there was tons of preparation to do. Not to mention, a _very_ awkward conversation with her father to be had.

Ariel clutched the bead tin close to her chest, the rest of Jim's gifts tucked safely in her bag. "Anything for you," she murmured to herself, an echo of Jim's earlier words, and propelled herself faster through the water; leaving nothing but bubbles and a whispered promise behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed, faved, and followed **Pull**! You guys are awesome, and I hope you like this next chapter. No Jim this time, but plenty of Ariel's sisters; who are some of the best, most-underrated characters in Disney canon imo. Enjoy!_

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"You've been acting really odd, Ariel."

The youngest princess looked up from her weaving, quirking an eyebrow at Alana as an amused smile played on her lips.

"Okay," Alana conceded, rolling her eyes. "Odd _er_ than usual."

"Didn't think that was possible," Andrina chimed in from the corner, glancing away from the scroll in her hands to smirk playfully at Ariel. Ariel tossed one of the weighing stones in Andrina's general direction, and it bounced harmlessly off her tail.

"Ow!"

Okay, _almost_ harmlessly.

"Bring it in, ladies," Alana said with a grin, glancing between where Andrina was rubbing her sore tail and where Ariel was serenely finishing her row before placing two weighing stones on her work to keep it from floating away. "But seriously, Ariel, is everything alright? You've been… quiet."

"Oh gosh, I can't imagine why," Ariel teased, clasping her shell necklace around her neck so that it hovered around her collarbones and pushing some of her floating hair out of her face.

"Don't get cute with me," Alana warned with a waggle of her finger. "You're plotting, little sister mine, and plotting is not a good look on you."

Ariel simply smiled in response, looking back over her work carefully before swimming over to where she had placed her red bag. It had been three days since she had visited Jim at the tide pool, and she had spent every waking moment planning how she would approach her father. It had to be handled delicately; it wasn't every day someone approached the king of the sea to ask to be made human for more than a day, and given their family history, it was something that Ariel wouldn't have dared asked under other circumstances. Three years had passed since the day Triton had destroyed her grotto, and although he had repaired it all (save for the statue of Eric) and had barely even raised his voice at her since, a chill still sank into Ariel's bones at the memory of his fury. It had been a strain on their relationship since she had come home, and Ariel knew that what she was about to ask would be the ultimate test for them both.

Ariel's smile had dimmed considerably, her features twisted in an expression caught between remorse and melancholy. So much had changed since that fateful day…. So many things given and taken away with the silent setting of the sun.

A soft, cool hand squeezed her shoulder, pushing her hair gently back. "Are you okay, Minnow?" Alana asked, settling in the sand next to her sister. Ariel smiled wanly, nodding as she leaned into her sister's embrace.

"Just thinking," she reassured. "Don't worry about it."

"Well, with Attina panicking about the ceremony and upcoming eclipse, _someone_ has to take on the role of ' _anxious older sister_ ' and fuss over you all," Alana teased, tapping the end of Ariel's nose. "Might as well be me."

Andrina snorted from the little pocket in the wall where she was curled up, and Ariel burst into giggles as their older sister glared at the blonde mermaid. Ariel grabbed the metal tin from her bag, holding it close as she made her way back over to her weaving (but not without giving Alana a quick kiss on the cheek in thanks, first). One look at the beads and buttons carefully nestled inside the tin, held down underwater by their own weight, was all the reminder Ariel needed, and her resolve strengthened.

For Jim. For a future of freedom and exploration and adventure. For herself.

Ariel took her weaving out from under the stones as Alana and Andrina chatted about their eldest sister's upcoming coronation, beginning to work again with sure fingers as the soothing sounds of her sisters rolled in her ears. The timing had to be _perfect_ when she asked her father, she thought as she knotted the salvaged strands of rope together, slipping a bead into the lattice work every couple of minutes. Ariel had already decided to ask him in the evening, after dinner, when he was winding down from a long day of ruling the sea with a swim through the garden. It wouldn't be hard to invite herself along, as her father took every chance to be with his daughters. The only thing holding her up was the _wording._

"Those are new."

Ariel's fingers fumbled, dropping the olive green bead to the sand as she looked up at Andrina's curious expression. "What, these?" Ariel asked, trying not to let her voice catch on the words. "I've had these for a while, 'Drina."

"No, you haven't," Andrina disputed. "The tin is different."

Ariel smiled at her sister, trying not to let her growing nerves show as Alana swam over to take a closer look. Her sisters didn't know about Jim either, and the _last_ thing she needed was for Andrina and Alana to find out and tell their father before Ariel even had a chance to. "Oh, yeah; I found it in a wreck the other week. I liked it more than my other bead tin so I moved them over."

Andrina's eyes narrowed suspiciously, and Ariel bit back several curses that could have made a sailor blush. "It couldn't have come from a wreck," Andrina said slowly, leaving her scroll and her cubby to swim closer. "That's stamped with the Arendelle seal; Verdaya only started trading with them in the past few _months."_

"Did they?" Ariel asked, making sure she sounded appropriately surprised. "I didn't even know!"

( _Of course_ she had known; the _Legacy_ had been the first Verdayan ship to go to Arendelle. Jim had been lit up brighter than a firework for _days_ before he left.)

Alana had joined the two mermaids now, looking at the beads and buttons in Ariel's tin curiously. She resisted the urge to cover them up with her hand, shield Jim's gift from their probing eyes, but that would be as good as admitting guilt, so Ariel remained still. "It must have fallen off a passing ship," Ariel suggested, shrugging. "It happens more often than you think, you know." Andrina picked up one of the beads, rolling it sluggishly around her palm in the water.

"This is metal, Ariel," she commented, scrutinizing the bead before flicking her intelligent hazel eyes up to Ariel. "It should have rusted by now if it was part of of your former stash. You found those beads when you were, what, twelve?"

"Eleven," Alana corrected. "She went searching for a piece of jewelry to give Adella for her birthday and came back with several jewelry boxes and those beads."

Damn. Curse Alana and her freakishly good memory!

"Eight years," Andrina drawled, not looking away from her silent sister. "These beads all look awfully good for being underwater that long."

Ariel felt like a wounded sea lion being circled by sharks. Her sisters smelled blood in the water, and they were closing in _fast_. She refused to look away, to do so was practically an admission of guilt, but Andrina had that look she got when she was particularly close to a breakthrough, or when she had nearly finished translating a difficult passage.

"Funny, isn't it?" she asked Ariel coyly. "Maybe they're enchanted?"

"Maybe I know how to take care of my things better than you," Ariel shot back, "Ms.' _I Bring Priceless Scrolls to Bed and then Horribly Crumple Them'_."

Neither Alana or Andrina rose to the bait, and Ariel could feel the tension humming in the water.

"Ariel?" Alana asked softly, worried.

"Alana," Andrina said before Ariel could speak, "would you mind checking these beads to see where Ariel got them? Just to be sure they're safe."

Ariel's eyes widened. _No_. She knew how Alana's magic worked, she'd be able to see everything; from the moment Jim bought the beads to when he presented them to her that day on the rocks. That moment was _theirs,_ it was a precious memory that Ariel kept safely tucked away in the most secret place of her heart, and she did _not_ want Alana's magic crashing into it like a bullshark.

Before Alana could even finish extending her hand, already glowing with soft, golden light as she prepared her spell, Ariel snatched the bead from Andrina's palm and twisted past them both; swimming quickly to the other side of the room and pressing the tin close to her chest. She curled her tail up against her body, protecting her treasures as Andrina and Alana both straightened out.

"I knew it!" Andrina said, grinning victoriously. "Those _are_ new! And I bet I know where you got them, too!"

"Stop it!" Ariel said firmly.

"You've been seeing humans again, haven't you?" Andrina accused, swimming closer and crossing her arms. "I just knew watching from the sidelines wouldn't be good enough, you're talking to them!"

"Andrina!" Alana snapped, quickly putting herself between her two youngest sisters. "Stop it, now!"

"But she's-!"

Alana's purple eyes flashed gold, and Andrina pushed herself away with a quick flick of her tail. Alana had never used her magic to harm anyone, but it was best not to test her. Besides, she was their elder sister by several years, having just turned twenty-four during the last winter, and Ariel and Andrina both knew that when their older sisters meant business, _they meant business._

Alana turned back to Ariel, mouth twisted in a worried frown. "Ariel," she started carefully. "Is it true, Minnow? Are you talking to humans again?" The little mermaid pressed her lips together nervously, teeth tugging on her bottom lip as her eyes looked anywhere but at her sisters. "I won't be mad," Alana promised gently. She pushed some of Ariel's hair back out of her face, tucking the red strands behind her ear. "We're just worried about you."

No one said it, but Ariel knew they were all thinking about the _last_ time Ariel had started to interact with humans, and the shell that hung against her chest felt like an anchor. "Drina talks to Eric," Ariel muttered defensively.

"Because I'm the ambassador," Andrina reasoned, hands on her hips. "Because someone had to guarantee his silence and well-meaning when _someone_ decided to turn tail and swim off after-" Andrina stopped herself this time, gasping softly, but the damage was done. Ariel curled up tighter on herself, trying to sink into the wall and hide the fact that her eyes were feeling mushy. Crying underwater was a strange, unpleasant sensation, and Ariel had been told repeatedly by her sisters that her chin bunched unattractively when she cried. "Oh, Minnow," Andrina said softly. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Yes, okay!?" Ariel snapped, pressing the tin tighter to her chest; the hard, metal edges digging painfully into her tawny skin. "I'm talking to a human! I'm putting us all in danger again and being selfish and horrid and spoiled!" She quickly turned her head away, trying to block out her sisters' gasps at her confession.

Silence hung in the room for a few moments, filled only by Ariel's shuddery breathing, when she felt two hands carefully cup her wrists. Andrina pressed her forehead against Ariel's temple, gently shushing her younger sister as she rubbed soft circles into her wrists with her thumbs. "No one thinks you're _any_ of those things," she reassured Ariel gently. "And if anyone says so, we'll have Aquata sic the whole Royal Guard on them, okay?"

Ariel chuckled wetly, rubbing the heel of her hand against her eye. "That's an abuse of power," she accused softly.

"You're our baby sister," Alana cooed, running her fingers through Ariel's hair. "We're allowed to be overprotective." Ariel shuddered through her next breath, trying to blink the tears rapidly from her eyes. When she looked at Andrina, she was smiling at her softly.

"There you go," she murmured, tapping the tip of Ariel's nose like Alana had done before. "Come have a seat; we'll get some nice kelp juice, and you can tell us all about it, okay?" Ariel squirmed awkwardly, but Andrina just grinned. "You know we're just gonna keep dragging sisters in here until you spill it," she said matter-of-factly. "It's either two sisters or four, and you know Attina would _completely_ lose her mind."

Ariel grimaced. "Oh, fine," she muttered. "Make sure Daddy doesn't see you," she begged as Andrina began to pull away, presumably to go get the aforementioned kelp juice. "Please, I- I need to be the one to tell him."

Andrina nodded, looking a little confused by Ariel's insistence, and quickly swam through the seaweed curtain that led back out into the rest of the palace. Alana gently led Ariel to the cubby that Andrina had been using before, getting her sister settled before she grabbed the lid to Ariel's tin. "Andrina didn't mean it," she said, holding the lid out to Ariel. "What she said about Eric. No one thinks any less of you for what happened after… After."

"No," Ariel murmured. "They thought less of me when I left." Alana was quiet for a moment, watching Ariel carefully put the lid back on after she was sure none of her beads or buttons had fallen out.

"They just don't know what to say," Alana said softly. "Just because they don't understand doesn't mean they don't love you. The people of Atlantica _adore_ you, Ariel. You've never been afraid to speak up for what's fair and right."

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely the voice of the people," Ariel scoffed, and Alana's frown deepened. She carefully cupped her little sister's cheeks between her palms.

"Music would still be outlawed if it wasn't for you," she insisted. "We would never have even _considered_ having an ambassador for the humans until you showed us their true nature, Ariel. It's thanks to you that Atlantica is safer than ever before."

Ariel frowned. She couldn't claim the credit for either of those things; she had just plowed along with single-minded determination and accidentally fixed things that had previously been broken. That wasn't the mark of a good princess and friend to the people, those were the actions of a selfish coward. They should have banished her ages ago, and Ariel suspected that had she not been the youngest daughter of the reigning king and had her sisters not defended her so viciously, she would have been.

Alana seemed to know that her words weren't getting through to the young mermaid, but before she could try again, Andrina swam back into the room; tray clutched in her hands and a bright smile on her face. "Guess who I found!" she sang, and both Ariel and Alana looked at her with furrowed brows. Before either of them could make good on the questions on their tongues, a blue and yellow blur shot into the room, and Ariel gasped as it collided with her chest.

"Ariel!"

"Flounder!" she said with a giggle as her friend eagerly bumped his nose against her chin, wrapping her arms around the little fish and pulling him close. Although, she was doing her friend a great injustice by calling him ' _little'_ still; Flounder certainly wasn't a guppy anymore. Three years ago, Ariel would have been able to cradle him safely in her arms. Now, he was almost as long as her torso and had gained some weight besides. He had grown into quite the handsome devil, and Ariel knew that when he sometimes disappeared for hours at a time, he was courting a rather pretty fish that Ariel had only met once or twice.

Although he had grown up, he was still Ariel's favorite scaredy fish and partner in exploration, and she happily rubbed her cheek against the top of his head.

"Are you o-okay?" he asked, swimming out of her arms to circle her torso a few times, looking for any new scars or bumps. "A-Andrina said you weren't f-feeling good."

Ariel sighed as Andrina passed her a stone cup filled with the thick juice, giving her blonde sister an annoyed look that she gleefully ignored. "I'm fine," she reassured Flounder, running her nails gently under his chin to which he responded by nuzzling her wrist. "They found out," she told him, and his eyes widened.

"It wasn't h-her fault!" he quickly defended. "W-we didn't know w-where the sea lions were n-nesting! It was an a-accident-"

Ariel quickly covered his mouth. "Not _that,"_ she hissed, glancing at her sisters out of the corner of her eye. Andrina was smirking at her, and Alana looked flatly unamused. She had been one of the merfolk that had been caught in _that_ particular stampede, and Ariel knew she'd be hearing more about that later. "The _other thing,"_ Ariel told Flounder, raising her eyebrows at him meaningfully.

He simply looked at her in confusion. Ariel sighed.

"The _Jim_ thing," she breathed, cupping her hand around her mouth so her sisters couldn't see her lips forming his name. Flounder, however, did, and he gasped as realization clicked in his head. He looked nervously at Andrina and Alana, swimming protectively in front of Ariel, and her heart swelled with affection.

"You c-can't be mad at her," he said firmly, even with his stutter. "N-not for this."

"Why not?" Andrina asked, but it was more curious than accusing.

"B-because she's happy," Flounder said, and Ariel smiled softly. "It's been t-too long since she's been h-happy."

The two princesses shared a startled look, and Ariel pulled Flounder against her chest gently. "Thanks, guppy," she whispered, kissing his head and giggling when Flounder practically lit up at the sign of affection. He had been her faithful sounding board ever since she had first swam back from the _Legacy_ that fateful night, blowing steam from her ears and growling about the impetuous first mate with no manners, and he had been the first to hear Ariel's plan when she had returned from meeting Jim at the tide pool a few days prior. "I'll take it from here, okay?"

"Okay A-Ariel," he said, settling in her lap happily. Ariel breathed in deep, not looking away from Flounder's striped back.

"I don't know where to start," she admitted, pushing some of her hair out of her face. Alana reached forward and laid her hand against the emerald scales of Ariel's tail, smiling gently.

"The beginning is usually best," she offered. "Do you know their name?" Ariel nodded.

"His name is Jim," she said, and her cheeks went a little pink as his face rose unbidden in her mind. Sharp jaw, dark hair, intelligent endlessly-deep grey-blue eyes. If he had been a merman, Ariel had no doubts she'd have to fight her sisters for his attention. "Well, I mean, technically it's James," she babbled, "but he goes by Jim. And he has a second name too! It's like a family thing; it helps humans tell who's related to whom."

"That's helpful," Alana said brightly. Andrina nodded.

Ariel could feel her smile growing as she talked about her sailor, her heart fluttering against her breast restlessly. "It's Hawkins," she told them unprompted. "He's the only son, but he's got a big extended family. His godfather is married to the captain of the ship he sails on, and they have four kids. But besides them it's just Jim and his mom, and she is the most _amazing_ person ever; she runs this big inn for humans all by herself! Jim helps, of course, but he's out at sea a lot so it's just her and her employees most of the time."

"So this human, he's a sailor?" Andrina asked, sharing a look Ariel couldn't quite interpret with Alana. Ariel nodded, smiling proudly.

"He's the first mate on a big trading vessel," she informed them.

"Like the ones that sailed to Arendelle?" Andrina said with a smirk. Ariel had the sense to look bashful at being caught.

"His was the first," she murmured. Andrina laughed shortly under her breath. "They used to be a naval ship," Ariel explained, "but then Captain Amelia had her kids, and so she retired to spend more time with them. Jim was one of the many that followed Amelia from her original crew, and he's been her first mate for nearly four years."

"How long have you known Jim?" It was Alana's turn to ask a question, and Ariel's smile dropped a bit. She squirmed awkwardly, running her fingers along Flounder's dorsal fin.

"A little over a year and a half," she muttered, wincing when Andrina choked on her sip of kelp juice. They were both staring at her with wide eyes, and Ariel smiled sheepishly.

"A year and a half!?" Andrina rasped, hand still at her throat as she she tried to recover from her choking. Alana was still staring at Ariel with her mouth hanging open, and Ariel reached out with her tail to gently knock her jaw closed with her fin.

"You're filterfeeding," she said quietly, and Alana snapped out of her shock.

"Ariel, a _year_ is a long time to be risking those kind of encounters with a human," she said nervously. "It even took Andrina _two years_ to be comfortable alone with Eric."

"Jim would never hurt me," Ariel defended quickly. "Not _ever._ He always asks before he touches my tail, and he didn't even start sitting close to me until we had known each other for at _least_ six months." Okay, so he didn't ask so much before touching her tail _now,_ with how he was constantly picking her up and helping her around the drier parts of the tide pool, but it wasn't like Ariel still asked if it was alright to touch _him_ either. They had spent so many days together by that time that it seemed kind of pointless. If she didn't want him to touch her, she would tell him.

"He's been close enough to you to _touch your tail!?"_ Andrina asked with wide eyes. She quickly set her cup down, swimming close to Ariel so she could look her little sister over critically; like she thought she could see the handprints on her skin from where Jim had touched her. "Are you sure it's safe to be that close to a human? I know humans aren't the brutes Daddy thought they were, but that's still way too dangerous-"

"I trust Jim," Ariel said firmly, frowning at Andrina. "He would keelhaul himself before he would hurt me."

"I-it's true," Flounder stammered from her lap. "He's r-really protective of her."

Andrina stared at Ariel silently for a moment, and Ariel simply looked back with a calm reassurance fueled by the absolute trust she had in her sailor. "He's never hesitated to keep me safe," she said, thinking of all the times she had visited the _Legacy_ while it sat in the harbor and Jim would turn his crewmates away from the edge of the ship where Ariel was perched. He had even gotten in trouble with Captain Amelia when he was giving the mermaid enough time to get safely back in the water. Ariel giggled. "Remember that time he had to clean barnacles off the ship by himself for a whole day because he threw his captain's hat across the deck when she got too close?" she asked Flounder, who laughed with her.

"Oh man, he was s-so grumpy," the fish remembered with her, and they both giggled at the memory of Jim, absolutely soaked with salt water and pouting at the laughing sea creatures, occasionally throwing a barnacle in their direction with a grumble.

Andrina and Alana shared another look that Ariel couldn't understand, and Andrina slowly sank back into the sand next to her older sister. "You know him really well," she said slowly, and Ariel nodded with a small smile.

"He's my best friend," she admitted. Ariel quickly amended her statement at Flounder's hurt look. "Best _human_ friend," she reassured.

"... Just a friend?" Alana asked, and Ariel immediately went scarlett. She bit her bottom lip, tugging nervously on her fingers as her sisters' eyebrows slowly rose with her continued silence. Flounder huffed in her lap, clearly remembering the awkward summer when Jim and Ariel had visited each other several times a week just to stammer around each other. It had taken them nearly Jim's whole shore-leave to confess their growing attraction to each other, and Flounder had stopped tagging along for every trip long before that.

"Told you she has a type," Andrina said after a minute of painful silence, and Ariel gasped in indignation as Alana burst out laughing.

"I do not!" Ariel protested as her sisters laughed at her expense. Flounder was chuckling in her lap, and she shot him a hurt look full of betrayal. "Don't encourage them," she hissed.

"Oh, it's good to know some things never change," Andrina said, still giggling. She leaned forward, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "You're so in love with him, don't even try to deny it."

"I'm not!" Ariel huffed, realizing her mistake too late. She looked at her sisters with wide eyes, but they were both smiling at her now. It was actually a little unnerving; they had been quiet and worried just moments before, but now they were completely at ease.

Alana laughed softly, swimming closer and taking Ariel's hands in her own. "If you trust Jim, so do we," she said warmly. "You can be rash, Minnow, but you're also an excellent judge of character."

"I made a deal with _Ursula_ ," Ariel reminded her flatly, one eyebrow arching high on her forehead. Alana waved her comment off easily.

"Under extreme duress. You're allowed to have an off day, especially with what happened with Daddy," she said with a shrug. The reminder of their father's reaction to Ariel's last beau had all three princesses silent and still.

"What are you going to tell Daddy?" Andrina asked quietly, and Ariel sighed wearily.

"The truth, if I can," she murmured. "I won't make the same mistake twice."

"What are you going to _do?"_ Alana asked softly. Ariel frowned, pulling Flounder close to her chest once again for comfort. Her friend nuzzled her arm sadly, and she smiled gently at him.

"Make my choice," Ariel said with a quiet determination, and Alana's expression fell. Both sisters silently joined the young mermaid in the cubby, tails curling together as they wrapped their arms around Ariel. She clung to her sisters tightly, face buried in Andrina's shoulder. "You know I don't belong here," she rasped, eyes feeling overly wet again.

"You belong with _us_ , Ariel," Andrina whispered, and her voice hitched on Ariel's name. Alana was quiet, her arms tightening around Ariel's waist. They sat silently, tangled together as their hair floated and moved with the tide. Ariel's breathing was hitching again, and for the first time, she was unsure about what she should do. She had never belonged with the other merfolk, everyone knew that. She didn't know the rules written in their blood, as old and ancient as the tides themselves. They stayed away from the human wrecks, she frolicked in them with unbidden joy. They craved the safety of the deeper waters and the security of Atlantica's walls, Ariel lived for her stolen moments in the warmth of the sun and under the millions of stars that shone brightly at night.

They stayed far from the humans that had once hunted them. Ariel had only ever felt truly safe and loved in the arms of a human sailor.

But as _other_ as she felt among the other merfolk, Atlantica was her _home._ She grew up swimming through the coral gardens and playing hide and seek in the palace halls. Her sisters were here, her father was here, what memories she had of her mother lived in these walls. Ariel loved the ocean and all its mysteries, and she thrived in the wildest parts of the sea where she could just let everything go and _swim._ Aquata was the most athletic of Triton's daughters, but Ariel was the fastest, and she had more than once ended up far past Atlantica's borders because she had been so caught up in the feeling of her tail pumping and the water rushing through her hair.

There had been no time to consider the full consequences when she had signed Ursula's contract, but now she had more time than she could stomach. Was she willing to give up everything she knew, everything she _was,_ for one man?

Ariel thought of the way Jim's laugh made her feel like she weighed nothing at all, how he could just watch her as she babbled on and on about her human treasures with a slow smile crawling across his face. She thought of how he would spend hours explaining sailing to her, never getting impatient as she struggled to connect the terms to the images in her head and smiling with her when she got it. She thought of how he acted with his fellow crewmembers when he didn't know she was watching from the side of the ship; with respect and fairness, especially to the young cabin boy that had been put in his care.

She thought of the first time he kissed her, clumsy tongue tripping over each " _please, can I"_ as his hands held her softly, reverently, like he was still surprised she let him touch her at all.

"Does he make you happy?" Alana asked quietly, echoing her thoughts, and Ariel laughed wetly.

"I love him," she confessed. "He makes it easier to breathe." Ariel was a mermaid; constantly taking water into her lungs and never drowning. Jim felt like finally coming up for air.

Alana pressed a kiss into Ariel's shoulder. "Then we'll help you in any way we can," she assured Ariel firmly, and both younger sisters turned to look at her with wide eyes.

"Alana-" Andrina protested, but Alana pressed her finger to the blonde mermaid's mouth. She smiled sadly at Ariel.

"At least if you go to land with your sailor, we'll always know where you are," she teased. "Fathoms knows where Adella and Arista are." Ariel laughed, hugging Alana tightly.

"Oh please, like I'd let Jim set sail without me," she said happily. "I'm going to see the whole world!"

Alana groaned. "The good news keeps coming!" she bemoaned dramatically, but Ariel was already giggling, wriggling happily in her sister's embrace while Flounder complained about being squished. She beamed at Alana, and her older sister sweetly kissed her forehead. "Let's figure out how to tell Daddy, shall we?" she mused. "Best start slow, and not dive straight into the whole ' _I want to permanently beach myself'_ deal."

"Daddy likes control," Andrina added softly. "Let him lead the conversation, but direct him towards what you want." Ariel looked over her shoulder, and Andrina smirked. "Hey, I helped Adella and Arista. I can help you."

"Tricky," Alana accused lovingly.

"You're the _best,"_ Ariel insisted, to which Andrina just smiled smugly.

"And don't you forget it," she said breezily. "Now, I would suggest a set amount of time on land to test the waters, metaphorically. You'll get further if he knows you've put a lot of thought into this."

"Jim's in port for two months," Ariel offered.

"Then one month should be good. Gives you plenty of time to experience life on land and get to know what Jim's like when you two are around each other constantly."

"You should suggest coming back," Alana added, "after the month is up. That way you don't miss Attina's coronation, and you have an out in case anything goes wrong."

"And you'll get to see Adella and Arista before you go," Andrina said, nodding in agreement.

"Girls, he _lives on the coast,"_ Ariel said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm going to visit all the time! You're not getting rid of me _that_ easily."

"Oh thank _gods!"_

All three princesses burst out into laughter, and were still laughing when Attina found them and was subsequently pulled into their pile of giggling sisters and limbs. That same night, Ariel found her father after dinner, her sisters all watching their interaction silently.

"May I join you?" Ariel asked sweetly, hiding her shaking hands by clasping them tightly behind her back. Triton smiled, offering his youngest daughter his arm.

"Of course, my dear," he said, obviously pleased. Ariel tucked her small hand into the crease of his elbow, and the two royals swam out together to the garden, speaking of nothing in particular in low tones. The other princesses watched from the window, Alana and Andrina both fidgeting nervously and Attina and Aquata watching in confusion, as Ariel stopped their father and had him sit on a bench. They couldn't hear the words they spoke from this far away, but they saw Triton's eyes widen in shock and Ariel's wild gesturing with her hands as she rushed to explain herself.

The whole ocean seemed to hold its breath as Ariel knelt in the sand in front of her father, their eyes not leaving the other's as she asked the king of the sea for her impossible favor.

And the stars in the sky seemed to sigh in relief when he quietly said yes.


	3. Chapter 3

_Wow, this update was a long time coming, huh? A lot has happened since June of last year - oh god, so much - but tldr; I moved out of state, got a new job, and had to get my life back on track after having been unemployed for_ _ **several**_ _months. Not to mention there was a hurricane in the meantime, and I had my writing energy diverted to an RP group I joined last year (Yes, it's a Disney RP, yes, I play Jim, and yes, he's dating the group's Ariel, what are you trying to say?)._

 _All of this to say that this is a story that I keep coming back to despite that all, and still have a lot of love for. The plot as it is now is rather long, I can probably get 35+ chapters out of it, but I do want this fic to have a conclusive ending. This fic was written with a very specific purpose in mind aside from getting my ultimate OTP together; this is a fic about growth and change, and how our experiences and mistakes shape us. It's a common criticism that Ariel "doesn't learn anything" by the end of her story, and I wrote this fic to explore exactly why that's_ _ **not**_ _true (I'm also of the belief that Ariel's story is less-so about giving up her life under the sea for her life on dry land so much as it's about Ariel escaping an emotionally-abusive household and finding her own agency and learning to forgive her abuser once he realizes the error of his ways, but that's another discussion)._

 _It'd feel really silly to leave this story unresolved, wouldn't it?_

 _So thank you to everyone who's left reviews and favorited and followed this fic, to the people who reached out on Tumblr to me about this fic ( the links to those blogs are on my author page, if you're curious lol), and to all my friends who have encouraged me to work on this fic and have been so excited to see it completed. A big shout out to my long time friend Cookie, my roommate Shelby, and my RP partner and Ariel, Reanna. Couldn't have done it without you guys!_

 _Without further ado, enjoy! And don't worry, the next chapter should be out within the month._

* * *

Verdaya was a coastal country, protected from the world by the ocean and tall cliffs on one side, and a wild forest and harsh mountain ranges on the other. The palace was built near the very tip of the peninsula, the location chosen carefully by the founding king. According to the journal of his first wife, he had intended it as a way to act as gatekeeper for his people, putting himself between them and the wildest parts of the world. ' _Let the mountains protect our eastern border;_ ' he had said, ' _and I shall guard the west._ '

' _I just think he likes to watch the sea,'_ his wife had written in response.

While the palace was under construction, built into the cliffside by some of the world's finest stonemasons, a town blossomed next to it for all the visiting architects and the young sailors and fishermen hoping for a fresh start for their families. The town was named Montressor, and became one of the most prosperous ports in the country.

Docks popped up all along the Montressor coastline, only broken up by the occasional cliff that jutted out past the sand and cut off the beach from view or access. Hidden pockets like this existed all over, visible only from sea, and remained relatively untouched by man.

As the sun was just beginning to set, it was near one of these unexplored coves that a head broke the water.

They looked around carefully, coming closer to the sand to get a better look once they were sure there was no one around to see them. There were no signs of life on this quiet part of the beach (save for the small crab that had crawled onto the sand shortly after they had peeked their head out of the water, and was now scuttling across the small beach and looking it all over critically), though with the tide low, there was a way to cut around the cliff, only partially submerged in water. The bay was clear of ships, and when they swam to check that the way to the next beach was actually passable, they stopped for a moment to watch the people moving in the windows of the nearby building. An inn.

The red crab looked over and gave the mermaid a nod and she nodded in return before waving up her sister from below. "It's safe for now," she whispered when the second head broke through the water. "But we had better put up a barrier, just in case." Her sister nodded, swimming back a ways from the shore so she could see the whole cove, and lifted her hands. They glowed a soft gold as she murmured under her breath in a language so old, even the earth itself had almost forgotten it. Golden magic rushed across the surface of the water and up onto the beach, climbing up the cliff and across the grass until a large portion of the cliffside seemed to glow.

Satisfied, the first mermaid ducked back under the water and whistled the all clear, motioning for the rest of her family to come up. "Alana's got the barrier up," she said with a smile. "No risk of humans wandering over while we do our thing."

"Thank you, Aquata," King Triton said, squeezing his daughter's shoulder before leading the way to shore. The rest of his daughters followed after, Alana having already perched herself on a rock and was admiring the way her tail gleamed in the dying light while she waited. Her sisters joined her on various rocks surrounding the cove, not wanting to risk beaching themselves but still wanting to be as close as possible. Only one of Triton's daughters swam bravely towards the sand, and Ariel settled herself easily where the water only came up to her hips. The rest of her tail lay in front of her, still under the water.

"All clear, siy'ah," Sebastian reported as he made his way towards the royal family, stopping by where Ariel was seated to give the king a salute.

"Thank you as well, Sebastian," Triton said, acknowledging his long-time adviser with a nod. He looked back at his youngest daughter and his expression shifted into something close to resignation, and Ariel felt guilt settle heavy in her stomach. "Are you sure this is what you want, Ariel?" he asked quietly, and after a moment, Ariel nodded.

"If it's not, I'll be back in a month and you can all rub it in my face," she joked weakly, and Triton's face fell even further. The water rose as he swam closer to his youngest daughter, setting his trident in the sand and taking her hands in his own.

"Ariel," he sighed. "That's not what I want. I don't _want_ you to fail." He cradled her cheek in his large palm, and Ariel sunk into his touch; holding his hand close with her own. "I just want you to be happy. _We_ want you to be happy."

Her sisters nodded from their perches, though Ariel noticed that Attina wasn't looking at any of them, her lips pressed together in a hard line.

"If you should ever need to come home," Triton said, "for any reason, you know how to call me, correct?" Ariel nodded. Placing her hand in the water, ripples spread out from her palm and rushed through the water in a wide circle. She knew that if Triton had been in Atlantica, he would have still been able to feel the vibrations, and he nodded in response. "Good girl."

Ariel smiled at him, and Triton pushed his fingers back through her hair gently. "Land or sea, I will always love you," he murmured, and Ariel felt tears begin to well in her eyes.

"I love you too, Daddy," she said, and several tears ran over her cheeks when Triton scooped her up into a large hug. There had been a time where there was no place safer in the world to her than in her father's arms, wrapped up so completely that she knew nothing could reach her. Now, as he let her go, she clung to him for just a moment longer, like she could press her love and gratitude below his skin where he would always be able to feel it, even when they were separated.

Triton was smiling when they finally did pull apart, albeit with a sad sort of happiness and pride that many parents felt when letting go of their child. "I have one more thing for you, Ariel, before you go," he said, waving for Andrina to come closer. Ariel's expression shifted into confused curiosity, trying to get a better look at what Andrina was carrying. Ariel already had everything she would need from the sea with her in her bag. Many things she would have to buy in town, but she had scoured her grotto and several shipwrecks for anything useful she could find in preparation for her journey. What else could her father possibly have to give her?

Unafraid of the shore, Andrina handed their father something wrapped in old sail cloth, patched over with seaweed in several places. Triton unwrapped it carefully, and Ariel leaned as close as she dared, trying to see what lay inside. It was an old necklace, blue cord knotted skillfully in whorls and curls around a piece of beautiful green sea glass. Tiny pearls were knotted around the edges, all worked together so delicately that Ariel couldn't fathom how anyone could be so precise and nimble-fingered.

"Your mother made this before we were married," Triton explained, and Ariel gasped softly, her eyes wide. "I used to go to the market every day, just to see her and watch her work. I bought so many of her pieces for my mother and sisters I was sure they were sick of me. This is one piece Athena kept for herself, however. And I want you to have it."

"Daddy…" Ariel said, voice catching in her throat. She remembered the stories of how her parents had met, told to her and her sisters by a smiling Athena and a bashful Triton, sometimes even while Athena made little bracelets and necklaces for her daughters. Athena the clever jewelry maker being slowly (and rather awkwardly, Athena had teased) courted by a young Prince Triton. Ariel had her jewelry from her mother kept safely in her room at the palace, far too precious to bring with her to land and risk loosing.

"Please wear it while you're away," Triton continued, carefully bringing the necklace over Ariel's head and settling it around her neck before pulling her hair out from underneath. It fell a few inches lower than the golden shell Ariel wore, and Ariel brushed her fingers against it shakily. "See it and remember that you are now, and always will be, a princess of Atlantica. No matter where the tides take you."

Ariel nodded, more tears falling past her now smiling cheeks. A piece of her mother to take with her to the shore. Ariel couldn't think of a more perfect gift. "Thank you so much, Daddy," she breathed, smiling up at her father beautifully, and he smiled in reply.

"Of course." The sun was starting to sink into the sea much quicker now, and everyone knew they were running out of time. "Best get you on your way before the sun sets," the king said, pushing himself back into deeper water and taking his trident with him. Ariel's sisters had already said their goodbyes before they left the palace, and now they all watched with equal parts curiosity and fear as Triton set the tip of his trident in the water. They had never seen a Mer lose their tail and become human before, but Ariel just relaxed, bracing herself for the pain. This was honestly the worst part, but she wouldn't cry, no. This was what she wanted.

Golden magic moved across the surface of the water, drawn to Ariel until it met her skin. It felt like sunlight, Ariel mused in wonder; warm against her skin and scales, and nothing at all like Ursula's magic. There was no pain as she was lifted into the air, only a rush of warmth and what felt like the static that filled the air just before a lightning storm. Ariel hovered for a moment, hair caught in an invisible current, and then, in a moment, she had legs.

It was so instantaneous that she wasn't sure she would have noticed had it not been for her sisters' gasps, but sure enough, her emerald tail was gone and replaced by two, tan, _human legs._ Ariel giggled in delight, wiggling her toes even as she continued to hover in the air, and Triton smiled. Pointing the trident at Ariel, another wash of magic rolled over her, and when Ariel looked down she was wearing a beautiful dress, almost like the one she had worn when she had toured the kingdom with Eric so long ago. The skirt was a deep sea green, like the clearest waters in Atlantica, and stitching of the same hue moved across the black bodice in curling, kelp-like designs. The white undershirt dropped past her shoulders and only went to her elbow, and Ariel was still looking over the design in wonder as she was set carefully back down.

… And her legs promptly collapsed under her.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" she quickly reassured her family, all having moved closer like they were going to beach themselves to help her back upright. "Just give me a moment, it's been a while."

"I daresay 'dat was mor' graceful than your first attempt, Ar'yal," Sebastian commented with a small grin as he scuttled closer, resting his claws over her hand in a show of support. Ariel laughed, scooping the crab up and pressing a kiss to the top of his head as he grumbled good-naturedly.

"Yah, ya did t'at too."

"Ariel?" Attina asked, fluttering nervously in the shallow water. She swam back and forth, not daring to come closer, but looking like being away from her baby sister was killing her.

"I'm alright," Ariel repeated, smiling so widely she thought her cheeks might crack. "Standing is a lot different than swimming, I just have to get my muscle memory back."

Muscle memory! From her _legs!_

It took a few minutes, and more than a few ungraceful, giggling tumbles into the sand while her sisters gasped, but by the time the sun was halfway below the waves, Ariel was standing solidly on the sand. She was smiling so broadly she could swear she could feel the joy radiating through her whole body, and as she took a small turn on the beach and watched her skirt flare out before settling back against her legs, Ariel's joyous laughter bounced off the cliff walls and echoed back out to sea.

Her hair was already dry and catching in the evening breeze, and the young princess let her head fall back, eyes drifting closed, as she let the salty wind pull at her gently. The waves rolled gently against the shore, the gulls cried overhead, and Ariel took a deep, weightless breath as two tears rolled down her cheeks.

Oh, how she'd missed this.

Finally looking back at her family, Ariel's heart soared when she saw the smiles on most of their faces. Attina and Triton were smiling as well, but there was a heartbroken resignation behind their smiles. Ariel loved the land as much as she loved the sea, but it was hard to reconcile that when the ocean was all you knew, all you loved. Ariel knew that, and understood it to a point, so she didn't hold it against them. They had agreed to let her go at all, didn't that mean something?

"I love the dress, Daddy," Ariel said, catching the skirt in her hands and swishing the soft fabric back and forth around her knees. "And the legs. Thank you," she said, smiling at him wetly. "Thank you _so much_."

"Remember, it's only for a month," Attina said, pulling on her fingers anxiously. "Or shorter, if you decide you want to come hom-"

"Tina," Andrina admonished lightly, flicking her tail at their eldest sister.

"Just, be back at the end of the month, alright?" Attina finished quietly, and Ariel didn't hesitate to walk out into the water to give her eldest sister a big hug.

"I'll be here," Ariel said with a nod. "I promise." Attina returned the hug easily, stroking back Ariel's hair and pressing a soft, salty kiss to Ariel's temple.

"Be safe, Minnow," she whispered, hugging Ariel tightly before slowly letting her go. Ariel reached out to her other sisters as well, who all gave her hugs and teary ' _Good luck_ 's before 'shoo'ing her back towards the shore. The skirt of her dress was dry in moments, and Ariel looked up at her father with a delighted grin that made him chuckle.

"Go on," he ushered gently, reaching out to hold his daughter's hand one last time. "Don't want to be late."

"I'll see you soon," Ariel promised, giving her father's hand a squeeze before gathering her red bag off the sand. She looked down at Sebastian, smiling wryly at the old crustacean. "Sure you don't want to tag along?" she asked playfully, and Sebastian scoffed.

"I'm a composer, Ar'yal," he reminded her, "not a babysitt'ah."

"Oh, but you did such a good job the first time!"

The crab's deadpan look sent Ariel into a laughing fit that nearly sent her back into the sand. "I'll check in," Sebastian finally acquiesced, smiling at the young princess. "Make sh'ore ya' aren't gettin' into trouble."

"Me?" Ariel said, ignoring Aquata's amused scoff. "Never!"

With that Ariel gave her family one last good bye and began to pick her way carefully along the shore. The sand slipped and moved under her feet, but Ariel was happy to find that the memory of how to balance on her new legs was coming back quickly. She made it to the outcropping that cut off the section from the beach from the rest of the shore and looked back just in time to see her family start to vanish beneath the waves. Attina was the last to go under, watching after Ariel anxiously until Ariel waved at her, and then slowly diving back under.

For the first time that night, Ariel was alone.

The young woman ducked under the overhanging stones, not bothering to pick up her skirt as she made her way around the outcropping that was visible thanks to the low tide. She picked her way carefully around, mindful both of her balance and the risk of sharp rocks piercing the soft, new skin of her feet, and finally made it to the other side without much issue. Taking a moment to catch her breath, Ariel looked at the building on the top of the cliff and felt her heart knock around excitedly in her chest. The Benbow Inn.

The cliff it rested on wasn't terribly tall, maybe only three lengths taller than Ariel was on her new legs, and there was both a set of stairs leading to the docks and a long incline that led from the beach to the cliff, naturally carved out of the stone wall and softened by sand and the occasional slat of wood. Ariel began to carefully climb up the ramp, sometimes having to use her hands as well with her rear sticking funnily in the air, but it was worth it to see the inn up close for the first time.

It was a large building, four stories high, and Ariel knew from Jim's description that there was an attic on top of that as well. It was crafted from stone and wood, artfully used to highlight the structure of the building, though to Ariel it almost looked like the stone had grown naturally from the cliff and they had just built around that. The grounds were well-tended and there was a vegetable garden on the side of the inn, along with a garden with all sorts of beautiful flowers and plants for the guests to walk through on the other side. There was even a stable on the other side of the road, and there were several horses being tended to by a young man with straw blond hair. The roof tiles were red like the rest of the buildings in the kingdom, but even still, there was something about the building that made it entirely it's own.

Ariel clutched the strap of her bag between her shaking hands, toes curling and uncurling in the dirt that lined the path to the building that loomed in front of her. She had seen it a dozen times from the ocean; often hiding under the docks that jutted from beneath the small cliff like bony, reaching fingers and watching the humans mill about their day. How many times had she met Jim at those very docks, only to watch him disappear back into the inn he called home when the sun began to rise? How many times had she stayed hidden in the shallow water, long after any sane merperson would have left, just to watch the going-ons through the large bay windows?

And now, here she was, mere inches from the front door; a new shot at a life on land hers for the taking. If only she just reached out and knocked.

The sun had finally set, the warm pinks and oranges of dusk fading into purples, blues, and blacks. The princess knew from her many visits to Jim in the past that this was the time of night when most of the guests would be heading to bed and the front dining area would be quiet and empty. Hopefully Jim would be one of the employees cleaning the tables and readying the inn for the night, but seeing as he had only come back from a long voyage a few days ago, Ariel's expectations weren't high. She'd just have to ask around until someone brought Jim to her or brought her to Jim.

Unlike her last foray on land, Ariel wasn't going to waste any time with mistaken identities. She was going to spend her first night as a human again in her sailor's arms, or get really, really tired trying.

Taking a deep breath, Ariel carefully tested the knob, letting herself inside when it gave easily. The room was warmly lit by a large fireplace at the back of the room, sconces along the walls helping to make the room bright and inviting even after the moon had risen. Circular tables filled the room, most with chairs turned over and stacked on top, and a wiry man was sweeping the floor and whistling under his breath.

"Ah, was wondering when you were going to come in!" Ariel jumped at the voice, spinning to come face to face with a woman with thick, brown hair and smiling blue eyes. She laughed, dropping a rag in a bowl of soapy water. "You were staring at the door for so long we weren't sure if you wanted to come in or sleep on the stoop," she teased, not unkindly, and Ariel unconsciously relaxed. Those blue eyes were so familiar… they put her right at ease.

"Sorry," Ariel said with a shy, nervous laugh.

"It's no trouble, sweetheart," the innkeeper said, waving her hand dismissively. "Come on and have a seat, I should still have some stew warming on the fire. Hungry?"

Ariel's stomach grumbled, answering for her. "A bit," she admitted, "but, uh, is it okay if I come in?" Both women looked down at Ariel's bare feet, covered in salt and dirt from the short trek from the beach to the Benbow.

The woman gasped. "My goodness, what happened to your shoes?"

"They got ruined by the saltwater," Ariel lied easily. "I'm sorry, I didn't bring another pair with me…"

"It's quite alright, sweetheart," the woman said, giving her feet one last considering look before looking up at Ariel with a wry grin. "My son has made bigger messes in the past, a little dirt is nothing. You come have a seat and I'll get you a rag to clean that dirt off with."

"Thank you," Ariel said earnestly, feeling a weight lifting off her shoulders as she was allowed inside. The flooring was warm and smooth beneath her feet, and Ariel was struck again by the incredible reality she found herself in. She was _human,_ with legs and feet and toes and clothes, and she was only a few floors away from Jim! It was like a dream, and she never wanted to wake up.

Ariel sat herself carefully at one of the tables with the chairs still on the floor, draping her bag over the back of her chair. The innkeeper came back with a small basin with a rag hanging over the lip, setting it down for Ariel to slip her feet into. "Were you looking to rent a room tonight, Ms…"

"Ariel." The princess answered the unspoken question with a smile, bending down to wet the rag and begin to clean the bottoms of her feet. "And yes ma'am. Um, did you say you had a son?"

The woman was spooning something thick and delicious-smelling into a bowl from a cauldron over the fire, and nodded as she made her way over. "Yes, my boy Jim. He just got back from a long journey over-seas, and I swear he managed to drag half the western continent back with him when he came home."

Ariel laughed in giddy delight, smile threatening to split her cheeks. "So you must be Sarah!" she exclaimed, bouncing in her seat. Sarah paused as she placed the bowl on the table by Ariel's elbow, regarding her curiously.

"Yes, I am," she said, straightening so she was standing in front of Ariel at her full height. "How did you…"

Now that she knew that the kind woman was in fact Jim's mother, the familial resemblance was impossible to miss. Her hair, though run through with streaks of silver at her temples and through her ponytail, was the same chestnut as her son's, and they had the same mouth with the deep Cupid's bow and fuller bottom lip. And the eyes! Jim's eyebrows were thicker and Sarah's eyes were larger, but they were the same grey-blue of the sky just before a storm. No wonder she had made Ariel feel so welcomed.

"I'm a friend of Jim's," Ariel explained, still smiling widely. "He's talked so much about you! It's an honor to finally meet you, ma'am!"

Sarah's smile was still tinged with confusion, but she accepted Ariel's outstretched hand and shook it firmly. "The pleasure is mine," she said. "I'm sorry, I don't think Jim's mentioned you…"

"He probably wouldn't have, my family is very private," Ariel said with a shrug. "He actually doesn't know I came to visit. It's a bit of a surprise."

"I see… Do you want me to go fetch him, or would you like to wait until the morning to see him?"

"I mean, if it's no trouble," Ariel began, pulling nervously on her hair, "could you bring him down? It'd be kinda weird to sneak up on him in the morning, wouldn't it?"

Sarah laughed - albeit a bit tensely, Ariel noticed - and nodded. "Yes, Jim's not a huge fan of surprises," she said, and Ariel rolled her eyes in understanding.

"Don't I know it," she grumbled, thinking back once again to the first time they met.

Giving the ex-mermaid one last, odd look, Sarah began to make her way to the stairs that led to the second floor. "Well," she said, "I'll go see if he's available. In the meantime, you just… stay here."

"Yes ma'am!" Ariel chirped, smiling gratefully at Sarah as she disappeared into the upper levels of the inn. When she was out of sight, Ariel went back to scrubbing the dirt and sand off her feet and calves, trying not to make more of a mess as the water in the basin got dirtier with each pass of the rag.

Once she was satisfied with the state of her new feet, Ariel carefully stepped out of the basin and stood upright, facing the stairs. She smoothed out the front of her dress quickly, making sure the bodice lay flat and the skirts weren't rucked up oddly. She ran her fingers back through her hair next, fussing and pulling at the long strands as she debated what to do with the unruly mass of waves. Did she leave it back, or pull it over her shoulder? On the occasions that she and Jim visited in the tide pool long enough for her hair to dry, he would often pull her hair to one side as he played with the curling strands. So Ariel pulled her hair over one shoulder and took a deep, nervous breath.

She turned to look at the wiry man she had spotted before, who had paused in sweeping up the dirt she had tracked into the inn - _whoops_ \- to watch her fuss with an amused grin. "Do I look okay?" Ariel asked, a little shyly, and his eyebrows furrowed behind his large, circular glasses.

"What?" he asked, voice too mild to be called a bellow, but too loud to be anything else. He gestured at his ears, and Ariel's mouth formed a small ' _O_ ' in understanding. He must be deaf, she mused, or at least hard of hearing.

"Do I look okay?" she asked again, speaking slowly so he could read her lips as well as signing as she spoke. Ariel had worked harder with Gabriella to learn sign language after the whole "Sold My Voice For Legs" thing, but she didn't know if the signs they used under the sea were the same as the ones used on land.

Either way, the man's face lit up in understanding, and he nodded enthusiastically as he gave her a big thumbs up. Ariel giggled, signing a quick 'Thank you' before turning back to face the stairs. She waited with her hands clasped in front of her body, determined to be patient despite how badly she wanted to race up the stairs and find Jim herself.

Just when Ariel was starting to believe that she'd be stuck waiting in the dining room forever (although Sarah had only gone upstairs five minutes ago), there was a loud crash from one of the upper levels, followed by a familiar voice shouting " _What!?"_ Ariel didn't know whether to be concerned or amused, and eventually settled on _"Nauseatingly Anxious"_ as footsteps began to pound through the inn, waking several patrons and startling complaints out of the ones who were just getting ready for bed. The loud noise got closer and closer, descending the staircase at a rapid pace, and anxiety clutched at her stomach like a vice.

What if he didn't want to see her? What if he was mad at her for coming to his home unannounced? What if he thought her legs were ugly, or that she didn't look as beautiful away from the magic of the sea? What if he _sent her home_?

' _No_ ,' Ariel thought, taking one last, deep breath. ' _I won't run from Jim like I ran from Eric. Not again. I'm going to see this through._ '

All of her carefully gathered bravery shot off like a startled school of fish when a large figure crashed into the wall as it barreled down the stairs, stumbling slightly on the landing before all but falling down the last few steps into the room. Jim was wearing only a pair of sleep pants, his chest bare and heaving with each heavy breath. The bottom of his face was wet, and Ariel wondered if he had been getting ready for bed himself when Sarah had gone to get him.

He stared at her, eyes wide and jaw slack, as he stood at the base of the stairs; clutching the railing for support. More than a little startled herself, Ariel could only stare back, breathlessly awaiting his response. His mouth worked silently around words that couldn't seem to form for several moments, then he suddenly began rubbing the heels of his palms into his eyes vigorously. He dropped his hands and stared at her in even greater shock, like he had expected her to vanish like a mist, and the action was so goofy and so _Jim_ that Ariel's worries seemed to melt away, and a soft smile bloomed on her lips.

"Jim," she started with a laugh, taking a step forward. Whatever else she was going to say, however, got lost in her yelp of shock as her wet foot slipped on the floor, sending her crashing to the ground in an undignified heap.

"Shit, Ariel!" Jim stammered, finally moving as he ran towards where she had fallen, dropping to his knees at her side. "A-are you alright?" he asked, hands hovering awkwardly over her body as she pushed herself up. Her carefully-mussed hair now fell in a wild mess in front of her face, and Ariel silently bemoaned her bad luck as she blew it out of her eyes with a huff.

"I pictured this going a lot smoother in my head," she grumbled, using his hand to help pull herself up to her knees. Jim didn't respond, instead staring at her small hand in shock where it was nestled in his. He gripped her hand slowly, releasing and holding it again several times before looking at the confused young woman in amazement.

"You're real," Jim breathed, and Ariel rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"Yes," she said in exasperation. "I don't think a wraith could make that kind of noise falling on its face-"

"You're _real,"_ Jim said again, with more confidence this time as his free hand moved up to push her messy hair out of her face and cup her blushing cheek. Ariel leaned into his touch with a soft smile of relief, her embarrassment quickly being replaced with a soul-deep sense of _rightness_ that made everything feel warm and floaty and gooey.

"Yeah, Jim," she sighed happily, pressing his hand closer to her cheek. "I'm real."

Over the almost year and a half that Ariel had known Jim, she had seen all sorts of different smiles on the sailor's face. His teasing grin when he said something smart, his bright smile as he got to explain some human contraption to the eager mermaid, the content quirk of his lips as he napped beside their tide pool - Ariel curled peacefully in his arms. Nothing, however, compared to his crooked, elated smile that lit up the room the moment she said those two simple words.

Ariel found that it was suddenly very hard to breathe. She wanted to remember this feeling for the rest of her life.

Jim laughed, practically shaking with it as he lunged forward, pulling the beaming mermaid off her knees as he hugged her close. His face was pressed into her neck, whispers of her name and various curses muffled by his laughter and her skin. Ariel joined him in his giddy excitement, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck until the space between them was all but gone. He smelled like soap and something Ariel could only identify as _Land,_ and she promptly wanted to drown in the scent until it was all her nose could remember.

"Ariel," Jim chuckled against her neck, mouthing at the skin with quick kisses that made her shiver. "Clever, pretty, devastating Ariel." He said her name like a prayer, and she melted against him.

"Jim," she sighed lovingly, running her fingers through his cropped hair and pressing a soft kiss to his brow.

They stayed like that for several moments, a frozen tableau of two lovers reuniting after what like eons apart. Her calves were burning with the awkward position she found herself in - half upright and still half kneeling, and pulled tight against Jim's bare chest - and she reveled in the feeling. Everything about this moment, from her cramping legs to Jim's warm arms around her back, felt _right,_ and Ariel didn't need a month to know that this was where she belonged.

His arms shifted, and Ariel shrieked as she suddenly felt herself leave the floor. Jim stood, his hands holding her thighs tightly and keeping her legs braced around his narrow hips, and laughed at her startled expression and sudden tight grip on his shoulders. He spun her around with a grin, and she began to giggle and laugh elatedly with him as she clung tightly to his torso.

"How are you _here_?" Jim asked, still smiling brightly as he held the young princess off the ground, fingers laced together under her to keep her from falling. "I'm not complaining, of course, but I- I mean, you have- I didn't think it was possible!"

Ariel beamed at him, cupping his jaw in her palms and pressing a teasing kiss to his nose. "It is if you know the right people," she replied cryptically. "It's not permanent for now, but that's kind of why I'm here?"

Jim's smiled dimmed. "Is that something we need to be worried about?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed as his mouth curled into a small, determined frown. Ariel kissed the corner of his lips, and his smile spread back across his face.

"Not tonight it isn't!" she said with a bright laugh. Jim joined her after a moment, his nose bumping against her own.

"Okay, okay, in that case," he began, taking a few steps forward and setting Ariel down on a table that already had a few chairs stacked on top. He began to pull away, but Ariel caught him first, bringing him back towards her face until their lips almost brushed. Jim knew her well enough at that point to know what she wanted without words, and his hands curved carefully around her waist and ribs as he kissed her. It was slow and soft, a gentle caress that left her feeling warm and pliant when he pulled away a second time, smiling widely. This time, she let him.

"Let's get a look at you then." He took a long step back, bringing her hand with him so their fingers could interlock, and Ariel simply giggled in response. She kicked her feet back and forth, feeling almost shy as his sharp eyes roved over the planes of her ankles and the form of her legs under her skirt.

"I like the dress," he said to start, smiling as Ariel ducked her head with a shy smile. "Where'd you get it?"

"It was a gift from the same person who gave me the legs," she told him.

"No shoes?"

"I may have forgotten about those."

Jim laughed, pressing a quick kiss to her palm before releasing her hand. His hands went towards her feet, but he stopped and looked at her questioningly before his calloused hands met her skin. Endlessly charmed and amused, Ariel nodded her consent; sighing happily as his hands carefully cupped her heels. She pulled her skirts up to just below her knees, fingers curled into the sea green fabric as Jim examined her new appendages.

"How is this even possible?" he asked, voice full of wonder. Ariel's toes curled and unfurled as his thumb swept carefully along the arch of her foot, the ex-mermaid giggling in response.

"Well-"

" _James Pleiades Hawkins!"_

Sarah's voice came from the stairwell like a clap of thunder, startling both young adults horribly. Jim immediately dropped Ariel's feet like they had scalded him, jerking upright and taking several steps back from the shocked woman as the matron of the inn stood before them. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion and her arms were crossed over her chest, and Ariel's stomach twisted into a knot. She'd been so worried about Jim's reaction to her appearance that she hadn't even _considered_ how his mother would take it.

That was very quickly proving to be a mistake, Ariel thought as she curled away from the elder Hawkins' cutting eyes.

"Ben, would you be a dear and lock up the front?" she asked the worker that Ariel had totally forgotten was still in the room, Sarah's eyes never leaving the two guilty adults in front of her. Jim met Ariel's eyes for a half-second, shrugging apologetically as his mouth pulled into a grimace, and she could only return his look sheepishly. It had been her secret that had caused this particular blunder into his family's blindside, she could own up to at least that much. She just hoped there was time to rectify this misunderstanding before it spiraled away from her control entirely.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you so much to everyone who has continued to review and favorite this fic! Your support is what encourages me to finish these chapters and get them out. This is admittedly the end of what I already have written, so we'll see what comes next! If you have anything in particular you'd like to see, or if you'd like a chapter in Jim's POV, please leave a review and let me know! Enjoy!_

* * *

"Now," Sarah began, taking a step forward and bringing Jim and Ariel's attention snapping back to her, "young man. You have approximately thirty seconds to explain why you possibly imagined this kind of behavior was acceptable in my inn."

"I, uh," Jim stammered helplessly, rubbing his cheek with his broad palm like he believed the answers would be waiting on his palm when he pulled it back. "Well, you see-"

"Mrs. Sarah?" Ariel cut in nervously, dropping down to the floor and smoothing her skirts back to rights. She flinched when Sarah's eyes snapped to her, knowing the look in her eyes from too many arguments with her father while growing up. "Before you get mad at Jim, may I try and explain?" Ariel asked, twisting a curled strand of hair around and between her fingers as she spoke.

Sarah's hard gaze softened a fraction, and she sighed. "The floor is yours," she said wearily, sitting in one of the few chairs still on the floor. Ariel nodded her thanks, turning to Ben with a smile. _We talk privately, please?_ she signed, mouthing the words as well and giving him a pleading look. Her father had said ' _family only'_ , so _'family only'_ it was. Maybe they'd let him in on the secret once Ariel knew him a little better, but for now…

Ben nodded, saying his good nights to the baffled Hawkins family before scampering out the backdoor. Jim's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Since when do you know sign language?" he asked, and Ariel laughed nervously.

"That's a story best saved for another time," she said, fingers resting against the shell that hung heavily around her neck. "Right now, I need to explain a few… things."

It took a few moments to sink in, but she watched the realization dawn on Jim's features, and he was by her side in a heartbeat. "Ariel, you don't have to do that," he said lowly, hands cradling her elbows. "Your father-"

"Gave me his express permission to tell any members of your family," she promised. "I'm doing this right, Jim, or I wouldn't be doing it at all." She smiled brightly, resting her hand over his thrumming heart. "Besides, you deserve some honesty as well."

Jim watched in confusion as Ariel took a small step back from him, moving so she was standing a few feet in front of Sarah. Jim's mother had watched the whole exchange silently, and now Ariel could feel the full weight of both of their gazes on her. She breathed in deeply, reveling in the light feeling she got from inhaling air instead of heavy water, and decided the straight-forward approach would be the best one.

"Ms. Sarah, my name is Ariel, and I'm a mermaid," she said easily, holding herself with all the poise and grace that, as a princess, was her birthright.

Sarah stared at her dumbly for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

Ariel deflated, watching in confusion as the matron laughed heartily. It was rather disheartening, actually, and she could feel Jim come to stand behind her.

"Oh, sweetie," Sarah began once she got her laughter under control, wiping tears of mirth from her cheeks, "I wasn't born yesterday, and I spent too long raising my son by myself to believe stories like that." Ariel opened her mouth to protest, but Sarah simply quirked a dark eyebrow, and Ariel's mouth quickly snapped shut. It had been ages since she'd been on the receiving end of a look like that, and not for the first time, Ariel thought of the loss of her mother and the _major_ disadvantage it put her at in this situation. "Now, the truth," she said, folding her arms. "Are you from town? I thought the excitement that always tends to flare up around my son had died down some, but it would seem not."

Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Ariel turned to look at Jim for an explanation, but the sailor was already shaking his head. "You know I never give those girls the time of day, mom," he said, looking mildly insulted. "Besides, she's not lying. She really is- um… was?"

"' _Is'_ ," Ariel conceded with a shrug.

"Alright, _is_ a mermaid," Jim said, placing his hand at the small of Ariel's back. Sarah didn't look impressed by this show of solidarity, and sighed again.

"Jim, that's ridiculous. Mermaids-"

"Don't exist? Just like Treasure Island _'didn't exist'_?" he objected. Sarah's mouth snapped shut, and Ariel looked between the two with wide eyes. "I found Isla de la Juventud, remember?"

"It's a little hard to forget, Jim."

"So why is it so hard to believe I found a mermaid?" he asked, and Ariel scoffed.

"Please, _I_ found _you,"_ she said with a smirk, and Jim pinched her hip with a shake of his head, a grin on his lips.

"Details," he dismissed.

"Because islands are _real_ , Jim," Sarah said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It was the treasure that was a myth, and I know gold exists. How do you expect me to believe that this young woman is a mermaid when she stands before me on two legs?"

Jim's mouth opened and closed around half-formed words, dark eyebrows furrowed together. She had a point, Ariel realized sadly; there was no way to _prove_ her claims without showing Sarah an actual mermaid.

Ariel's eyes landed on the pitcher of water on the counter, and she gasped quietly.

"What if I could prove it?" the princess cut in quickly. Sarah and Jim both looked at her quizzically, and Ariel simply smiled brightly. "What if I could prove to you, beyond a doubt, that mermaids exist?"

Sarah sighed, looking between the two. Something about the hopeful expression on Ariel's pretty face and Jim's pleading look must have spoke to the inn matron, and she gestured to the dining hall with a wide sweep of her arm. With a happy grin, Ariel nearly bounced over to the pitcher, her smile only growing when she saw it was full of cool, fresh water.

"Perfect," she murmured to herself, grabbing a large serving bowl from behind the counter before trotting back over to an empty table. Jim and Sarah's eyes followed the young woman as she placed the bowl in the center of the table, tweaking its placement to her liking before setting the pitcher down and rolling up her sleeves.

"To start off," Ariel said, clapping her hands together, "we're going to need absolute privacy." Taking a deep breath, she exhaled long and slow, moving the air around the room with a wave of her hand. The sudden breeze blew through the shutters, sliding them all closed one by one until only the candlelight and the fire from the hearth lit the room. The wind dissipated with another wave of her hand, leaving nothing but the barest hint of the ocean's salty scent behind.

Sarah was sitting fully upright now, eyes wide as she gave Ariel her undivided attention. Jim had seen her do small acts of magic before, but nothing on this scale, and his jaw was slack in awe. She dared a peek at his eyes, worried that she might find distrust or fear there, but there was only wonder, and with renewed confidence, Ariel carried on.

Lifting the pitcher as high above the bowl as she could with one hand, Ariel rose to her toes as she began to pour the water into the bowl. The water, however, never touched the worn, wooden inside. Instead, it stopped inches above the rim. As Ariel poured the water out, it swirled and sloshed in mid-air, forming a perfect sphere that hovered above the bowl.

Ariel's eyes never left the sphere as she set the now-empty pitcher down, her hands coming up to help hold the shape of the water in the air as she walked around the table so her back was to the Hawkins family. She had never tried this magic above the waves before, and found it harder and easier in equal parts. Easier to keep the magic contained instead of bleeding out, but now it pulled solely from Ariel; her throat burning dryly while her chest felt like it had been hollowed out, leaving her short of breath.

The sphere moved sluggishly in the air, and Ariel fanned her hands out so it flattened and spread out like liquid glass. Satisfied with her viewpoint, Ariel took a small step back and pointed at the still water with her left hand. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she felt the air in the room hum. The inn had only known the domestic magic of hard work and love, poured into every board over the years, and the foreign Mer magic was easy to pick out over the soft humming. Her other hand shot out, pointing towards the other source of magic - contained in a crystal flower vase filled with water, and Ariel swung her hand back until her fingers met in the middle.

There was muffled cursing in front of her, and behind her, Ariel could hear Sarah and Jim gasp.

She opened her eyes, smirking as she watched Alana clutch her head, the surface of the water rippling for a moment. "Ariel!" she whined, glaring at the younger mermaid. "You know better than to move my viewpoint like that!"

"And I thought you knew better than to scry on me while I was away, but it would seem we're both wrong," Ariel mused, cocking her hip as she crossed her arms over her chest. To her sister's credit, Alana recovered quickly, smoothing back her black curls and adjusting her tiara with a pout.

"We just wanted to be sure you had made it safely," she said innocently. "Who knew if they would agree to let you stay with them? You're our baby sister, we want to be sure you're in good hands!"

Ariel rolled her eyes, turning to face said hosts. Sarah's hands covered her mouth, eyes wide as she stared at the image of Ariel's sister floating peacefully underwater, lilac tail flicking absentmindedly back and forth. Jim's grin looked like it was about to split his face in two, his eyes taking in as many details as he could. His thirst for stories of Atlantica rivaled her own curiosity of the human world, and she was grateful for the chance to show him even this small piece of her world.

"Would you like to meet my family?" Ariel asked with a mischievous smile, stepping back and gesturing at Alana. Sarah could only nod. Bouncing happily on her toes, Ariel spun back around to meet the eye of her highly-amused sister. "Who else is there with you?" she asked.

"Four out of six, plus one extra," Alana said, reaching past the edge of the viewpoint to grab at something - or someone - that hadn't made it into her field of vision. She tugged, and a nervous-looking Aquata came into sight.

"Ariel, are you alright?" she asked, leaning closer to the viewpoint. Ariel smiled, reaching up to press her hand against the smooth surface of the water, a motion Aquata immediately mirrored.

"I'm fine, Ata," Ariel reassured. She watched as her other sisters began to slowly swim into view. Besides herself and Andrina, none of them had had very much experience with humans, and it was easy to tell that even the sight of the two-legged creatures put them on edge. Attina stayed ahead of her sisters, like she was bracing herself for Jim or Sarah to try and jump at them, but Ariel ignored her in order to smile brightly at the merman with the grey seal's tail next to Attina.

"Sitka!" she greeted happily, and her sister's husband smiled.

"Hello, Ariel," he said fondly, tapping the viewpoint and sending the water rippling. "How's the surface treating you?"

Ariel beamed. "It's _so great_ ," she gushed. "There's this warm breeze tonight that feels _heavenly_ and oh my gosh, the _sand_ between _my toes_? I had forgotten how amazing that felt!"

"Good to hear, pup," Sitka laughed, wrapping an arm around Attina's waist and pulling the frowning mermaid into the curve of his chest. "See, love? It's going fine," he reassured her. "You're worried for nothing."

"Not for nothing," Attina muttered, and Ariel frowned at her. Their eyes met through the viewpoint, pleading blue and cautious green, and Ariel sighed. Attina had the same distrust of humans that her father harbored, and Ariel had known she would be the hardest to bring around.

"Before you decide to judge them," the redhead started, giving her sister a Look, "would you perhaps like to be introduced?" She gestured to the two humans that stood behind her, and most of her sisters smiled so brightly Ariel could feel the warmth like a physical thing.

"Of course we would!" Andrina said, her typical sarcasm abandoned for eager curiosity. She and Aquata crowded around Alana, trying to get the best view of the human sailor that had caught their flighty sister's attention so thoroughly, and Ariel laughed in delight. Even Attina swam a little closer, expression caught between curiosity and wariness as Sitka watched on eagerly.

"This is Sarah Hawkins," Ariel began, sweeping her hand back to gesture at the shocked matron. "She's the owner of the Benbow Inn; you know, that building on the cliff that overlooks the Symeriaa Pass." Sarah's face was pale, but an excited smile had begun to curl across her lips, and Ariel felt a rush of affection for the older woman. The same fascination with the world that had so endeared the little mermaid to Jim was evident in his mother's eyes, and Ariel beamed. Once this whole " _I'm a mermaid princess who gave up her tail and life under the sea for your son, no, really_ " misunderstanding was resolved, she was sure they'd get along famously.

"Oh, yes!" Andrina said, snapping her fingers. "I know the place! It got rebuilt recently, right?"

"About six years ago," Sarah croaked.

"It's a fascinating building," the blonde mermaid carried on. "Human architecture is so much different than what we have here! Do all inns look like that, or do they vary-"

"Drina," Ariel, Aquata, Alana, and Attina all sighed, giving their sister a long look. She was the most scholarly of Triton's daughters, and once she got started, it was hard to get Andrina back on track. If given the chance, she would probably interrogate Sarah until the sun rose again.

"Oh, I see," Andrina huffed, crossing her arms and giving her sisters a deadpan look. "When Ariel's curious about the human world, it's _'charming'_ , but when I do it, it's disruptive."

"No, it was pretty disruptive when Ariel did it too," Attina said with a shrug, and Ariel flushed.

"Thanks, Attina," she deadpanned.

"No problem, little sister."

" _Anyways,"_ Alana sang, glaring at Attina, "I do believe we were in the middle of introductions?"

"Oh, right!" Ariel chirped. She spun back to Sarah, taking the older woman's hand and tugging her closer to the viewpoint. "Mrs. Sarah, these are my sisters! And Sitka, I guess."

"Love you too, pup."

"Attina, Alana, Aquata, and Andrina," she continued, ignoring Sitka's teasing smile. "We have two other sisters, but Adella is swimming with a transient pod for the year, and Arista is on tour with her bandmates."

"I-it's a pleasure," Sarah said, curtseying on shaky legs. Her sisters - even Attina; queenly etiquette was hard to ignore - all returned the gesture, bending at the waist with their arms curved gracefully at their sides. Sitka bowed.

"The pleasure is ours," Alana said graciously. "Thank you for allowing our sister into your home, even if just for the night."

Sarah blushed prettily, a small smile on her face. "Oh, it's no trouble at all," she reassured. "It's what I do."

Ariel smiled brightly, turning to find Jim smiling at her in that lovely crooked way that made her heart beat irregularly in her chest. "And girls," she continued, getting her sisters' attention as she took Jim's hand. "This is her son, Jim Hawkins; first mate on the _RLS Legacy."_

The change in attitude was palpable the moment Jim stepped into view of the mermaids; the respectful smiles replaced with teasing looks and wide smirks. Alana in particular was practically purring, purple eyes lidded as she surveyed the sailor.

"Sooo," she cooed, Andrina giggling at her shoulder. " _This_ is the infamous Jim Hawkins! I must admit, my sister's descriptions didn't do you justice." She hummed, tilting her head to the side and tapping her chin thoughtfully. "He's taller than I thought he'd be," Alana said to Aquata, both girls grinning evilly.

"Stoooop," Ariel groaned, covering her burning cheeks with her hands. Jim looked like he couldn't tell if he was uncomfortable or amused, but he turned to her with a teasing grin and Ariel pouted back at him.

"So, you talked about me to your sisters?" he asked, grinning, and Ariel shoved him half-heartedly.

"Not nearly as much as we would have liked her to!" Aquata chimed in.

Andrina and Alana both nodded. "You were our baby sister's best-kept secret for quite a while," Alana said. "We all had to merely _guess_ why she was so… what's the word?"

"Distracted?" Attina offered.

"Floaty?" Aquata said with a shrug.

"Annoying," Andrina teased.

"Smiley," Sitka said.

"Happy," Alana settled, smiling warmly at the two blushing adults. Ariel pulled shyly on her hair, not daring to look at Jim to see his reaction. "You've been quite the positive influence."

"... You should hear what the rest of my crew has been saying," Jim admitted, and Ariel jerked to look at him with wide eyes. He shrugged sheepishly. "Their theories ran from _'sleep deprivation'_ to _'mild concussion'_. Apparently, I was smiling too much."

"You _have_ been in uncommonly good spirits the past year or so," Sarah said with a smile, and Jim groaned.

Ariel giggled in delight as that gooey, warm feeling returned to her chest. She smiled widely at him, finding his hand with her own and squeezing. Jim simply chuckled, interlocking their fingers.

Ariel turned back to her sisters, and a glance at Attina's gleaming tiara made the young mermaid's bright smile dim. There was still more misunderstandings to clear up, all her own doing, and she could only hope that by the end, Ariel wouldn't find herself shoved right back out into the night.

She squeezed his hand once more as she took a fortifying breath, and stepped away from the two humans to stand between them and the viewpoint. Jim quirked an eyebrow at her, a question on the tip of his tongue, but Ariel's wane smile silenced him before the words could form. "So, Mrs. Sarah," she began, "as proof of the existence of mermaids, and to put to ease your fears about my identity, I present to you… I... "

She sighed, pressing her hands against the black bodice of her dress to try and calm the frantic, nervous fluttering of her heart. She had to do this; no lies, no mistaken identities. She had tried to abandon who she was in the depths before, and the shame of it haunted her. Not again.

"I present to you," Ariel began again, meeting Jim's worried blue eyes, "the royal family of Atlantica. Princess Andrina, Ambassador of the Crown. Princess Aquata, Captain of the Royal Guard. Princess Alana, Royal Sorceress of Atlantica. And Princess Attina and her husband Lord Sitka of the Northern Waters, heirs to Poseidon's Crown."

Jim's eyebrows shot up towards his hairline as his jaw dropped open in shock, his mother gasping behind him. "Wait, _princesses_?" he asked, his voice cracking. Ariel grimaced as she felt the water behind her shift as Alana swam closer to the viewpoint.

"He didn't know?" she said in disbelief, and Ariel made a sound like she was in physical pain.

"When could I have told him!?" she asked frantically, spinning to meet her sister's eyes. "When we first met I was still scared of humans! I didn't know what he'd do with that knowledge!" Turning back to face Jim, she winced at the frown that was on his face. "I know now that you would never hurt me, not even back then," she hastened to reassure him, "but by the time I was ready to tell you who I was, we had known each other for so long I didn't know how to bring it up! You can't just drop 'Oh, by the way, my father I talk about so much is _king of the seas'_ into the middle of a knot-tying lesson."

Jim pushed his bangs away from his face, confliction written plainly on his features as he rocked from one foot to another. "So, you're a princess too, then?" he asked, and Ariel nodded weakly.

"She is our youngest sister," Attina said, "Princess Ariel of Atlantica; Royal Human Historian, Keeper of Lost Stories, and Ursula's Heir." Ariel winced, but bore the titles as best she could. ' _Heir_ ' was the kindest word for what she had become the night Ursula died.

She and Jim stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, and the old feeling of blood-stopping panic had her heart in a vice-grip. She was reminded of the night that she and Jim had first met, and wondered if this night would also end in a fight.

Sarah placed her hand on Jim's arm, and the sailor exhaled heavily. Then, slowly, he began to laugh under his breath, shaking his head. "Royal Human Historian, huh?"

Ariel nodded, confused but hopeful.

Jim laughed a little harder. "I'm sorry, but don't you think it's kinda funny that the advisor to a whole kingdom about a foreign culture had to have the purpose of shoelaces explained to her on three separate occasions?" he asked, grinning, and Ariel's answering laugh almost fell out of her.

"Hey, cut me some slack!" she joked weakly. "Most merpeople still don't know what boots are." Jim practically cackled, and Ariel sagged in relief. It wasn't perfect, but it was a start, and Ariel would gladly take whatever he offered her.

Hand still resting on Jim's bicep, Sarah reached over and took Ariel's nearest hand in her own, smiling warmly at the younger woman. "Well, I think you've successfully proven me wrong," she said with a laugh of her own, looking at Ariel's sisters in wonder. "Mermaids, honest to god mermaids; who would have thought."

"Mom, you have to keep that to yourself," Jim quickly said, laying his hand over hers. "The reason I never told you about Ariel was because I _couldn't_ ; there's an entire civilization at risk here."

Sarah gave her son a deadpan, " _No, duh_ " look that nearly made Ariel burst into laughter. Jim made that _exact_ expression all the time.

"No, I mean it," Jim insisted. "Not even Delbert or Amelia."

"At least not yet," Ariel cut in. "Maybe closer to the end of the month, but for now, it has to stay amongst us three."

"What happens at the end of the month?" Sarah asked curiously, Jim nodding.

Ariel sighed. "That's when my time is up," she said quietly. "That was the deal I made with my father."

"One month on land," Attina recited, "one month under the sea."

The room was dead silent for a moment as the words sunk in. "...And then?" Jim asked, voice low.

Ariel looked up to meet his eyes, smiling shyly as she shrugged. "Then I have to make up my mind," she told him, and his eyes widened.

"You…" he started, but the words seemed to leave him in a rush. He stared at her, stunned and a little in awe, and Ariel felt her cheeks begin to flush. Beside her, Sarah softly gasped in realization then tried to smother the shocked noise with her hand.

"Only if it suits you, Lady Sarah," Alana gently said from the viewpoint. "We wouldn't force another body on you with no warning."

"I can pay for my room," Ariel quickly reassured the matron, finally looking away from Jim. "And I swear I wouldn't just laze about all day; I intend to find work somewhere in town while I'm here."

"Oh, sweetheart, don't worry about it!" Sarah said with a bright smile, squeezing Ariel's hand gently. Ariel almost melted on the spot, soaking in the motherly affection like a sponge while her sisters all looked at Sarah with something akin to longing. "We've got a spare room next to Jim's that you can stay in; free board and meals." She held up her hand when Ariel tried to protest, smiling. "A friend of Jim's is a personal guest of mine," Sarah told her. "I won't accept a single crown of your money. You're family now."

Ariel had to bite down hard on her bottom lip as she nodded, trying to stave back the sudden welling of emotions and tears. Those three simple words had plucked at her heartstrings like a harp, and she felt precious relief flood her body, rendering her knees weak. Jim seemed to notice, and stepped forward to pull her into a tight hug before she could make a fool of herself by collapsing to the floor. Again.

"You're probably exhausted," he said softly, running the knuckles of his free hand up and down her spine in a soothing motion. "I can't imagine being magically transformed from one thing to another is any fun at all."

The gentle shift from mermaid to human with her father's magic was almost like a trip to the spa compared to the feeling of her tail being split down the middle by Ursula, but Ariel figured that kind of morbid comment wouldn't be appreciated by any of her current company, and so she simply nodded. "Relearning to walk on a sandy beach in the dark isn't exactly a summer swim either," she said with a wet laugh, and Jim grinned against her temple.

"We can probably worry about the details of your stay tomorrow then, right Mom?" he said, and Sarah nodded, patting Jim's arm and giving Ariel's shoulder a light squeeze.

"Of course, dear," she said. "For now, I'll see if I have a spare room for you to use for the night. The room next to Jim's is in an awful state, certainly not fit for any sort of special guest, never mind a princess."

Ariel clung tighter to Jim, resisting the urge to groan aloud as her girlish fantasies of falling asleep in Jim's arms on her first night on land seemed to slip away. Jim held her tighter in turn, and behind them, Ariel's sisters all giggled quietly. Save for Andrina, who openly laughed at the pout on Ariel's face.

"I'm, uh, actually pretty sure we're all booked up for the night," Jim said quickly. "Maybe, j-just for the night, of course, Ariel can… stay with me?"

Ariel turned her head back just in time to catch Sarah's confused expression. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "We have plenty of… oh." The matron gave her son a deadpan look that could have put Sebastian to shame, but both Ariel and Jim simply grinned back at her hopefully. Sarah looked between the two before sighing, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Oh, _fine_ ," she groaned, leveling a Look at Ariel when the young mermaid bounced on her new toes in delight. "But no funny business, or Ariel gets to stay in the inn while you, Jim, get to sleep on the docks for the next month."

Ariel wasn't entirely sure what _"funny business"_ Sarah was worried about, but judging by Jim's sudden bout of coughing and the blush she could feel heating his skin even from where her head rested against his shoulder, he had understood his mother's threat perfectly.

"Yes ma'am," he murmured, Sitka laughing behind them from the viewpoint. Ariel stepped out of Jim's embrace to approach her sisters, smiling as they all immediately drifted closer to the viewpoint to meet her.

"Tell Daddy that I made it safely to the Benbow, and that I'll be staying here for the month, please," she asked, and Alana nodded.

"Of course, Minnow," she said gently, and Ariel pressed her hand to the viewpoint as much as she dared, her throat tightening as they all matched her motion.

"You better come visit us," Andrina said with a smile, "or we'll be forced to scry on you again to check on how you're doing."

Ariel laughed wetly. "I'll keep that in mind," she reassured. "I know the perfect place."

"Good," Attina said firmly. It was impossible to tell if a mermaid was crying underwater, but there was a distinct hitch to her eldest sister's voice and twitch to her lip that made tears of her own swim in Ariel's eyes. "Be _safe_ , Ariel," Attina insisted softly, and Ariel nodded.

"I will be." With that, Ariel gave her sisters one last, wide smile before she let the viewpoint collapse, the water rushing between her outstretched fingers before siphoning back into the pitcher in a smooth stream. Ariel stared at the spot in the air where her sisters had been just a moment before, trying to swallow down the emotions and tears that sat heavy in her throat. After a few moments, she felt Jim's fingers rest against her wrist, and turned to find him watching her with worried eyes.

"You okay?" he asked quietly, and Ariel nodded with a small smile.

"It's been a long day," she murmured, and Jim just nodded, wrapping his arm around her waist gently.

"We should let you get some rest then." They quickly said goodnight to Sarah, the older woman pulling them both into hugs before letting them trudge up the stairs. Ariel was more than a little mortified to find that she remembered how to go up stairs on her own even less than she remembered how to walk, and Jim helped her up several flights to the top floor while attempting to bite back his amusement. ' _Attempting_ ', being the keyword, as every time she looked at him as she slowly made her way upstairs with the grace of a drunken octopus, he had a gigantic smirk on his face.

Ariel made sure to kick his shins several times as they slowly moved upward.

They finally made it to the top floor, which only had three rooms and a small sitting area and kitchenette on it, unlike the floors below which seemed to have several rooms apiece. Jim gave her a brief tour from the top landing, pointing out Sarah's room, the bathing room, and the guest room that would soon be Ariel's, before gently pulling her into the only room left on the floor. Ariel couldn't control her excited grin, hundreds of possibilities for what Jim's room could possibly look like swimming through her head, and was only a small step behind him as he passed through the door.

It was small, but tidy, with a bed shoved against the wall and covered in a myriad of pillows and blankets that he must have brought back from his travels. Sketches of ships and different odd contraptions lined the walls, along with a torn Verdayan flag hung over the bed. There was a plain vanity against the opposite wall, with a small shaving kit and hair brush sitting on the top, and a wooden bowl had been left carelessly on the floor, water seeping into the floorboards under it.

"Sorry," Jim said with an embarrassed laugh, leaving Ariel by the door to go pick the bowl up. "I kinda left in a rush when my mom told me you were downstairs."

Ariel giggled. "I don't blame you," she said with a smile. "It had to be awful strange to hear that your friend with a _tail_ is waiting for you downstairs."

"I'll say. ' _Ariel_ 's not exactly a common name in these parts."

Ariel laughed again, slowly stepping the rest of way into the room as she looked around curiously. It was much smaller than the room she had once been given at Eric's castle - she was pretty certain that Jim's room would actually fit inside the bathing room with ample space to spare - but it was filled to the brim with homey touches. Different souvenirs from Jim's travels laid all over the room, and like most of the inn, the room felt well-loved and lived in. Ariel had always loved the inn, finding its exterior beautiful and welcoming, but she adored it more now that she could see the inside, and the history of the people who lived in it on every surface.

"It's not much-" Jim started shyly, but Ariel turned and smiled at him brightly.

"No, no! It's wonderful!" she reassured him. Her fingers ran across the spines of the books Jim had stacked on his desk, and she stopped as she saw a lone shell sitting on top of a stack of reports. "I remember this," Ariel breathed, picking the shell up. "I gave this to you the first time we met in the tide pool. You… you kept it."

Jim came to stand beside her, smiling softly. "Of course I did," he said, his hand cradling her own. "I saved everything you gave me. Even- oh!" He quickly walked to the other side of the room, digging through his bags that had yet to be unpacked while Ariel watched him curiously. When he popped back up a moment later, boyish grin wide on his face, Ariel immediately noticed the piece of metal gripped in his hand and laughed wetly into her palm, feeling her tears starting to bubble up again.

"You kept the compass?" she asked in disbelief. Jim's smile widened.

"It was the first present you ever gave me; you know, after the gigantic headache and bruised ego."

Ariel snickered. "I can't believe you got it to work," she said, biting back her smile. Jim just shrugged.

"It still doesn't. It's more of a good luck charm than a tool for navigation. I'm not above admitting that I'm superstitious enough to believe that when a mermaid leaves you a gift on the open sea, you take it with you on the open sea. Besides," he smiled, "it's nice to have a piece of you with me when I'm halfway across the- Ariel?"

Ariel could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks now, her breath catching awkwardly in her chest as she tried to steady herself. It was just all too much for her heart to take. Being at the inn, being accepted by Jim, being welcomed further into his life with open arms; it was more than she could have hoped for, and the happy tears soaked her palms easily.

Jim was back across the room in a heartbeat, pulling Ariel into his embrace and again rubbing her back. "I've got you," he murmured into her hair as Ariel shook in his arms, "it's alright."

"I-I just can't believe I'm here," Ariel gasped, clinging to him tightly with her hands pressed against the warm skin of his back.

"Think how I must feel," Jim teased gently. "I didn't even know it was possible. Ariel, the little mermaid, standing in my room on human legs." He hummed in thought. "Wait, sorry. Princess Ariel."

Ariel giggled wetly, smacking his shoulder without any real force. "Don't you start that," she chastised with a grin. "Up here, I'm just your Ariel." Jim's grip on her tightened.

"I think that'll work just fine," he murmured against her temple. "Do you have any bed clothes to wear? Jim asked once Ariel had let go, wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks. She shook her head.

"I only have this dress," she admitted, gathering her skirt in her hands and lifting them like a crude curtsey. Underneath her skirts, her bare toes wiggled. "I brought money to buy more clothes in town, though!"

Jim nodded. "Alright, then let me see if we have any extras in your size, okay?" he said, kissing her temple one last time before stepping back out into the sitting room. Ariel finished her exploration of the room while Jim was gone, peering into his closet and drawers curiously before making her way to the bed. She was tempted to jump on it, much like she had once in Eric's palace, but decided against it when she realized there was probably a guest staying in the room below.

Instead, Ariel began to fumble with the ties of her bodice, awkwardly reaching behind her back to try and undo the knot that kept it tight. It wasn't nearly as restrictive as the corsets she had worn at the palace, but it was still digging into her hips and ribs, and she was anxious to get it off. "Come _on_ ," she grumbled, trying not to lose her balance as she twisted back and forth to try and catch the laces. "Let me untie you!"

She struggled for another minute before there was a deep chuckle behind her, and Ariel turned to see Jim standing in the doorway, several articles of clothing draped over his arm as he watched her with a grin. "Need some help?" he asked, and Ariel pouted at him.

"Be nice," she muttered, turning back around and pulling her hair over her shoulder so the back laces were facing Jim in a clear invitation. He laughed again, crossing the room and tossing the clothes onto the bed before his worn fingers found her waist.

"I am being incredibly well-behaved," he informed her, laughter still in his voice. His fingers made quick work of the knot, and Ariel clutched the front of the bodice to her chest as he loosened the tight stays. "The green shift should work as a nightgown," he told her, taking a quick step back once he was done. "I'll wait for you to finish changing outside, yeah?"

Ariel nodded. "Thank you," she repeated for what felt like the hundredth time, smiling bashfully at Jim over her shoulder. He just grinned at her, stepping back outside to give Ariel some privacy to change. It was quick work to strip herself of the other layers, and after only a brief moment of hesitation as she tried to remember how to pull the long shift on, she quickly made her way to the vanity; checking herself one last time in the mirror. The shift didn't hug her so tightly as to be risque, but floated over her curves lightly. The fabric was soft from years of use, and Ariel decided she greatly prefered this fabric to the slippery silk she had worn before.

She beamed at her reflection, once again pulling her hair over one shoulder and giving her legs (mostly hidden under her nightgown) one last, appreciative look, before trotting to the door. She pulled it open to find Jim leaning against the wall, thumb tapping at the corner of his mouth as he was caught in deep thought. "You can come in!" Ariel chirped, and Jim startled slightly. But he recovered quickly and grinned at her, following her back into the room. You could see the moon starting to rise through the windows facing the coast, and Ariel found herself drawn to the view. "It's so beautiful," she breathed, resting the tips of her fingers on the glass panes.

Pulling on a sleep shirt (as Ariel resisted the urge to pout), Jim came up behind her and followed her gaze. "Don't have views like this under the sea?" he asked softly, and Ariel shook her head.

"The ocean is beautiful, but _this,"_ she said, smiling softly at the sailor. "This defies definition." Jim smiled back at her softly, taking her hand in his own, and Ariel wanted to melt.

"Thank you," she said softly, and Jim quirked his head at her in confusion.

"For what?"

"Letting me stay," Ariel nearly whispered. "Accepting me into your life without any warning."

Jim stared at her for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her waist gently, and Ariel easily tucked herself against his chest. It was a little odd, being held like this while standing upright, but it still felt so good. Jim was several inches taller than her, she noticed, even standing on even ground.

"You are always welcome here, Ariel," he responded just as quietly. "You can stay as long as you want."

It felt like a promise, and as the moon rose and washed out the landscape below the window until it almost looked like the seafloor, Ariel felt perfectly content. She didn't know what the next month would bring, she didn't even know what the next _day_ would bring.

As long she faced it with Jim at her side, she could brave any trial. This was her second chance at the life she'd always wanted, and she would not squander it. She wanted to revel in it, instead.


End file.
